NGC 4666, which lies about 80 million light-years from Earth, is also spewing gas in what’s called a “superwind.” Supernova explosions and strong winds from the massive stars in the starburst region drive the wind from the bright central region of the galaxy out to distances of tens of thousands of light years. The hot gas mostly emits light in the X-ray and radio parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, so it can’t be seen in this visible light image.

This image was made with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. It is a combination of 12 frames taken through blue, green and red filters.

The X-rays flowing from NGC 4666 had previously been observed with the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton space telescope (below). Those observations also picked up many other previously unknown X-ray sources in the background, including a faint galaxy cluster 3 billion light-years away, visible toward the bottom right of the visible light image. Studying galaxies and clusters in many wavelengths of light tells astronomers more than a single image ever could.

Images: 1) ESO/J. Dietrich 2) M. Ehle and ESA.

See Also:

• Hubble Captures Fireworks in the Starburst Cluster
• Cosmic-Ray Mystery Traced to Star-Birth Frenzy
• Cascade of Star Formation Captured in Omega Nebula
• Supernova Wind Solves Galaxy Formation Mystery
• Farthest Galaxy Cluster Ever Detected

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Authors: Lisa Grossman

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