ULLYSES Targets in the SMC

This is a ground-based telescopic photo of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. The galaxy is one of several select targets of a new initiative with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope called ULLYSES (UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). The program is looking at over 300 stars to build an ultraviolet-light catalog for capturing the diversity of stars, from young to old. The program's goal is to give astronomers a much better understanding of the birth of stars and how this relates to everything from planets to the formation and evolution of galaxies. The SMC contains hot, massive, blue stars similar to the primitive composition of early galaxies, so astronomers can gain insights into how their outflows may have influenced early galaxy evolution billions of years ago. The target stars are from Hubble archival observations (yellow circles) and new observations (blue circles) under the ULLYSES program.