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Dwarf Irregular Galaxy NGC 4214 Imaged by Hubble WFC3
This is a full-field image of the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 4214 taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Episodes of star formation are revealed as the galaxy continues to form clusters of new stars from its interstellar gas and dust. The Hubble image reveals a sequence of steps in the formation and evolution of stars and star clusters, evident in the glowing gas surrounding bright stellar clusters.
The young clusters of new stars appear within bright clumps of glowing gas. Each cloud glows because of the strong ultraviolet light emitted from the embedded young stars, which have formed within them due to the gravitational collapse of the gas. These hot stars also eject fast "stellar winds" moving at millions of miles per hour (thousands of kilometers per second), which plow into the surrounding gas. The radiation and wind from the young stars literally blow bubbles in the gas.
The main object near the center of the galaxy is a cluster of hundreds of massive blue stars, each more than 10,000 times brighter than our Sun. A vast heart-shaped bubble, inflated by the combined stellar winds and radiation pressure, surrounds the cluster. The bubble will increase in size as the most massive stars in the center reach the ends of their lives and explode as supernovae.
NGC 4214 provides a unique view of star formation in galaxies other than the Milky Way because of its proximity to us. Filters onboard Hubble also help to tell the story of star formation in this galaxy. Broadband filters expose light from older star populations and show the overall structure of the galaxy. NGC 4214 is not only small in size compared to the Milky Way, it also appears irregular in shape, with no defined disk or spiral arms. Ultraviolet filters show the intense stars that radiate ultraviolet light in the centers of the colorful nebulosity, which is in turn visible because of narrow-band filters that isolate specific gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen.
This dwarf galaxy resides 10 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. The Hubble images were obtained in December 2009 with the Wide Field Camera 3 in ultraviolet and visible filters.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.12h 15m 39.16s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.36° 19' 36.8"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Canes Venatici
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.The distance to NGC 4214 is 10 million light-years (3.1 Mpc).
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 11360 : R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), B. Balick (University of Washington), H. Bond (STScI), D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts), M. Carollo (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich), M. Disney (University of Wales, College of Cardiff), M. Dopita (Australian National University), J. Frogel (Ohio State University Research Foundation), D. Hall (University of Hawaii), J. Holtzman (New Mexico State University), P. McCarthy (Carnegie Institution of Washington), F. Paresce (European Southern Observatory, Germany), A. Saha (NOAO/AURA), J. Silk (University of Oxford), A. Walker (NOAO/CTIO), B. Whitmore (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and E. Young (University of Arizona).
The science team comprises: R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), M. Dopita (Australian National University), C. Kaleida (Arizona State University), and B. Whitmore (STScI).
- InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.December 22-25, 2009, Exposure Time: 3.6 hours
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F225W (UV), F336W (U), F438W (B), F487N (H-beta), F502N ([O III]), F547M (y), F657N (H-alpha+[N II]), and F814W (I)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.NGC 4214
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Dwarf Galaxy with Bright Star-Forming Regions
- Release DateMay 12, 2011
- Science ReleaseGalaxy NGC 4214: A Star-Formation Laboratory
- Credit
This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on HST. Several filters were used to sample broad and narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F225W (UV) + F336W (U) + F438W (B) + F487N (H-beta)Green: F502N ([O III]) + F547M (y), Red: F657N (H-alpha+[N II]) + F814W (I)
Related Images & Videos
Galaxy NGC 4214: A Star-Formation Laboratory
The dwarf galaxy NGC 4214 is ablaze with young stars and gas clouds. Located around 10 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs), the galaxy's close proximity, combined with the wide variety of evolutionary stages among the stars, make it...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
