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Back Galaxy NGC 4314 (Hubble WFPC2 Mosaic)

Galaxy NGC 4314 (Hubble WFPC2 Mosaic)


Depicts: NGC 4314, IRAS 12200+3010
Copyright: G. Fritz Benedict, Andrew Howell, Inger Jorgensen, David Chapell (University of Texas), Jeffery Kenney (Yale University), and Beverly J. Smith (CASA, University of Colorado), and NASA

The two spiral arms outside the ring are probably unrelated to the dust lanes, and seem to contain very little dust or gas. The stars in these spiral arms are bluer than most of the galaxy, indicating that many of them are relatively young, less than 200 million years old. However, they are older than those in the ring. This information suggests that the neighborhood of star formation is moving closer to the galaxy's core. Another interpretation has the arms formed through the gravitational interaction of the embedded bar and ring of stars, causing them to spray outward.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
20-Apr-2026 00:48 UT

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