Fact Sheet
Galactic Fireworks
Hundreds of new stars are taking shape in the central region of NGC 1313, a spiral galaxy that's about 15 million light-years away. The stars are found in the red and green "bubbles" in this image from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, which shows only the galaxy's central regions. The green bubbles may contain the hottest, youngest stars. NGC 1313 is classified as a starburst galaxy, which means that it's giving birth to thousands of times more stars than our own galaxy, the Milky Way. [Henri Boffin/ESO]
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