Far, far away…55 million light-years to be exact, lies this galaxy containing a …

Far, far away…55 million light-years to be exact, lies this galaxy containing a massive star-forming cloud. This large cloud composed of ionized hydrogen is the only massive star-forming complex in the entire galaxy.

Imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (@nasahubble), this barred spiral galaxy is famous for containing an especially extensive HII region, a large cloud composed of ionized hydrogen (or HII, pronounced “H=two,” with H being the chemical symbol for hydrogen and the “II” indicating that the atoms have lost an electron to become ionized). This cloud sits at the lower left end of the galaxy’s central “bar” of stars, a structure that cuts through the galactic core and funnels material inwards to maintain the star formation occurring there.

CREDIT: NASA/ESA

#nasa #space #hubble #telescope #galaxy #spothubble #galaxies #universe #astrophysics #stars #hydrogent

Source