Fireworks from Space

by Alan Boyle

To mark the Fourth of July, the astronomers behind the Hubble Space Telescope present a fireworks show of cosmic proportions, featuring the starburst galaxy known as NGC 4449. The galaxy’s blaze of stellar formation has been going on for billions of years, but it appears to be in the midst of an upswing – perhaps brought on by gravitational interaction with neighboring galaxies 12.5 million light-years away.

MSNBC