Hubble ACS image of NGC 4163
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows myriad stars residing in the central region of the dwarf galaxy NGC 4163.
The bluish dots are younger stars; the reddish dots, older stars. The irregularly shaped red blobs are regions of current starburst activity. Starbursts are areas of intense star formation.
NGC 4163 is part of a Hubble study of starbursts in nearby, small, or dwarf, galaxies. Based on this study, astronomers have found that starbursts continue 100 times longer than first thought, lasting 200 million to 400 million years. These galaxies show that starbursts are not isolated events, but sweep across a galaxy.
Credit:NASA, ESA and K. McQuinn (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis)
About the Image
About the Object
Name: | NGC 4163 |
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Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : Starburst |
Distance: | 10 million light years |
Constellation: | Canes Venatici |
Category: | Galaxies |
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 12 12 8.76 |
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Position (Dec): | 36° 9' 56.97" |
Field of view: | 1.48 x 2.25 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 28.4° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
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Optical V | 555 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |