Lively Galaxy
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September 3, 2010 The spiral galaxy NGC 4666 spins through the cosmos in this recent image from the La Silla Observatory in Chile. NGC 4666 is known as a starburst galaxy because it is giving birth to thousands of new stars. The process is driven by interactions with nearby galaxies, such as NGC 4668, which is at lower left. The vigorous new stars, plus the stellar explosions known as supernovae, generate a "superwind" that blows tens of thousands of light-years into intergalactic space. The galaxy is about 80 million light-years away. [ESO/J. Dietrich]
