Starburst Galaxy IC 10
January 4th, 2012
Lurking behind dust and stars near the plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy,
IC 10 is
a mere 2.3 million light-years distant.
Even though its light is dimmed by intervening dust,
the irregular dwarf galaxy still shows off vigorous star-forming regions
that shine with a telltale reddish glow in
this colorful
skyscape.
In fact, also a member of the Local Group of galaxies, IC 10 is
the closest known
starburst galaxy.
Compared to other
Local Group
galaxies, IC 10 has a large
population of newly formed stars that are massive and
intrinsically very bright, including a luminous
X-ray binary
star system thought to contain a
black hole.
Located within the boundaries of the northern constellation
Cassiopeia,
IC 10 is about 5,000 light-years across.
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