This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the
dwarf elliptical galaxy named IC 3430.
ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun
This NASA/ESA Hubble
Space Telescope image reveals the subtle glow of the galaxy named IC 3430, located 45
million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. This dwarf
elliptical galaxy is part of the Virgo cluster, a rich collection of galaxies
both large and small, many of which are very similar in type to this diminutive
galaxy.
Like its larger elliptical cousins,
IC 3430 has a smooth, oval shape lacking any recognizable features like arms or
bars, and is missing much of the gas needed to form many new stars.
Interestingly, IC 3430 does feature a core of hot, massive blue stars —an
uncommon sight in elliptical galaxies — that indicates recent star-forming
activity. Astronomers think that pressure from the galaxy ploughing through gas
within the Virgo cluster ignited what gas IC 3430 had in its core to form the
newer stars.
Dwarf galaxies are really just
galaxies with fewer stars, usually less than a billion, but that is often
enough for them to reproduce, in miniature, the same forms as larger galaxies.
There are dwarf elliptical galaxies like IC 3430, dwarf irregular galaxies,
dwarf spheroidal galaxies, and even dwarf spiral galaxies!
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