Close-Up of Star Formation in Antennae Galaxy
The collision triggers the birth of new stars in brilliant blue star clusters, the brightest of which contains roughly a million stars. The star clusters are blue because they are very young, the youngest being only a few million years old, a mere blink of the eye on the astronomical time scale.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo9734e |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 21 October 1997, 19:00 |
| Size: | 120 x 120 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Antennae, IRAS 11593-1835, NGC 4038, NGC 4039 |
| Type: | • Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting |
| Distance: | 35 million light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Ultraviolet U |
336 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical B |
439 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical V |
555 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Infrared I |
814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
