Image of the Day: A Spectacular Starburst Galaxy

post from The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel on 07 November 2009 08:41:00 AM. © The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel

N 2403 is a showy face-on spiral starburst galaxy in Camelopardalis- The Giraffe, with numerous many bright emission nebulae which can be seen as bright pink regions in the spiral arms. This galaxy extends well beyond this field of view- note the very blue arms reaching towards the edges of the frame. This galaxy is estimated to be around 12 million light years away. It is associated with a nearby group of galaxies called the M81 group. The blue patch is an unresolved cluster of young luminous stars. It seemingly miraculous transformation is due to one of these (massive) stars in the cluster exploding.