NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope observes spiral galaxy NGC 5668, a mega star factory, located 90 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It spans 90 000 light-years across and surprisingly similar in size as well as mass to our own Milky Way galaxy.
NGC 5668 is considered a mega star factory because it forms new stars 60% more quickly than our own Milky Way, thanks in part to high-velocity clouds of hydrogen gas that have been tracked moving vertically between the disc of the galaxy and the spherical, faint halo which surrounds it.
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The enhanced star formation rate in NGC 5668 comes with a corresponding abundance of supernova explosions. Three have been spotted in the galaxy, in 1952, 1954 and 2004. In this image, Hubble was used to examine the surroundings of the Type II SN 2004G, seeking to study the kinds of stars that end their lives as this kind of supernova,” said the ESA.
