Hubble image of a galaxy with a circumnuclear starburst ring selected as picture of the week
NGC 6951 is a spiral galaxy with numerous stars lining its spiral arms. Hubble’s previous view of the galaxy showed glittering blue stars lining the spiral arms. However, that image failed to reveal much about the star-forming regions in the galaxy.
This new observation does justice to that. It reveals areas of star birth (nebulae) in fine detail. These regions are seen as red dots scattered around the galaxy’s arms. Numerous blue stars are also seen. These are young, blazing hot stars. Filamentary dust clouds also line the spiral arms.
The galaxy’s center is seen as an elongated bar of yellow light. This bar is a slowly rotating, dense structure composed mainly of old stars. The bar channels gas inward toward the nucleus. The gas accumulates in a circular region about 3,800 light-years wide.
This process may be responsible for forming NGC 6951’s most striking feature — a circumnuclear starburst ring. In this image, the ring is whitish blue and located at the very center of the galaxy. It contains gas dense enough to favor the formation of numerous stars.
Astronomers have recorded over 80 potential star clusters in this starburst ring. While many of the stars in this ring are relatively young (below 100 million years old), the ring itself may have existed for up to 1.5 billion years.
Among other things, this observation could help astronomers map the dust in nearby galaxies, study the centers of disk galaxies, and monitor supernovae.
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