Starburst Galaxy M94
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
What could cause the
center of M94 to
be so bright? Spiral
galaxy M94 has a ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus,
giving it not only an unusual appearance but
also a strong interior glow.
A leading progenitor
hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of
stars known as a bar rotates
in M94 and has
generated a burst of star
formation in the inner ring.
Recent observations have
revealed the outer, fainter ring is not closed and relatively complex.
M94, pictured here spans about
30,000 light
years, lies about 15 million light years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward
the constellation of
the Hunting Dogs (Canes
Venatici).
