NGC 4449: Close-Up of a Small Galaxy
NGC 4449: Close-Up of a Small Galaxy
Credit: NASA,
ESA, A. Aloisi (
STScI /
ESA),
Hubble Heritage (
STScI /
AURA) -
ESA/Hubble Collaboration
Explanation: Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory. Their newly formed, bright, blue star clusters along beautiful, symmetric
spiral arms are guaranteed to attract attention. But small irregular galaxies form stars too, like
NGC 4449, located about 12 million light-years away. In fact,
this sharp Hubble Space Telescope close-up of the
well-studied galaxy clearly demonstrates that reddish star forming regions and young blue star clusters
are widespread. Less than 20,000 light-years across, the small island universe is similar in size, and often
compared to our Milky Way's satellite galaxy, the
Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 4449 is a member of a
group of galaxies found in the constellation Canes Venatici.