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Blaze of Stars in an Old Galaxy's Core
The central region of the small galaxy NGC 1705 blazes with the light of thousands of young and old stars. Astronomers call NGC 1705 a dwarf irregular, that is, a small galaxy lacking regular structure. Knowing how dwarf irregular galaxies evolve tells us a lot about galaxy formation and evolution. Young, blue, hot stars are strongly concentrated toward the galaxy's center. Older, red, cooler stars are more spread out. This galaxy has been forming new stars throughout its lifetime, but a burst of star-formation activity occurred as recently as 26 to 31 million years ago. This 'starburst' is responsible for many of the young stars on the outskirts of this galaxy's core as well as the central giant star cluster.
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Stars