Stellar fireworks in galaxy NGC 4449

Stellar fireworks in galaxy NGC 4449 (7/3/07)

Hundreds of thousands of vibrant blue and red stars are visible in this new image of galaxy NGC 4449 taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Hot bluish white clusters of massive stars are scattered throughout the galaxy, interspersed with numerous dustier reddish regions of current star formation. Massive dark clouds of gas and dust are silhouetted against the bright starlit background.

NGC 4449 – Click for 1280×1024 image