Galaxy IC 4710 imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). IC 4710 lies roughly 25 million light-years away fro

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Galaxy IC 4710 imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). IC 4710 lies roughly 25 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Pavo (The Peacock). It is a busy cloud of bright stars, with bright regions marking bursts of new star formation. IC 4710 is classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy, lacking central bulges and spiral arms. It is thought that irregular galaxies may once have been spirals or ellipticals, but became distorted over time through external gravitational forces during interactions or mergers with other galaxies. Dwarf irregular galaxies are important to our overall understanding of galactic evolution, as they are thought to be similar to the first galaxies that formed in the Universe.

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Size: 4386px × 3985px
Photo credit: © NASA/ESA/STScI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 4710, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, dwarf, formation, galaxy, hubble, ic, irregular, nursery, pavo, space, star, starbirth, stars, stellar, telescope, young