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By NASA
Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Studies a Nearby Galaxy’s Star Formation
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the picturesque spiral galaxy NGC 4941. ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the picturesque spiral galaxy NGC 4941, which lies about 67 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo (The Maiden). Because this galaxy is nearby, cosmically speaking, Hubble’s keen instruments are able to pick out exquisite details such as individual star clusters and filamentary clouds of gas and dust.
The data used to construct this image were collected as part of an observing program that investigates the star formation and stellar feedback cycle in nearby galaxies. As stars form in dense, cold clumps of gas, they begin to influence their surroundings. Stars heat and stir up the gas clouds in which they form through winds, starlight, and — eventually, for massive stars — by exploding as supernovae. These processes are collectively called stellar feedback, and they influence the rate at which a galaxy can form new stars.
As it turns out, stars aren’t the only entities providing feedback in NGC 4941. At the heart of this galaxy lies an active galactic nucleus: a supermassive black hole feasting on gas. As the black hole amasses gas from its surroundings, the gas swirls into a superheated disk that glows brightly at wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum. Similar to stars — but on a much, much larger scale — active galactic nuclei shape their surroundings through winds, radiation, and powerful jets, altering not only star formation but also the evolution of the galaxy as a whole.
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Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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Last Updated Apr 04, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Spiral Galaxies The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge
Hubble’s Galaxies
35 Years of Hubble Images
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By NASA
Explore HubbleHubble Home OverviewAbout Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & BenefitsHubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts ScienceHubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky ObservatoryHubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb TeamHubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts NewsHubble News Social Media Media Resources MultimediaMultimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More35th Anniversary Online Activities 3 Min Read Hubble Spots Stellar Sculptors in Nearby Galaxy
This dazzling NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the young star cluster NGC 346. Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) As part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations, ESA is sharing a new image series revisiting stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing techniques.
This new image showcases the dazzling young star cluster NGC 346. Although both the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble have released images of NGC 346 previously, this image includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
This dazzling NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the young star cluster NGC 346. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) NGC 346 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that lies 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium — what astronomers call metals — than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early universe.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, which are many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are sculpted by the luminous stars in the cluster.
Hubble’s exquisite sensitivity and resolution were instrumental in uncovering the secrets of NGC 346’s star formation. Using two sets of observations taken 11 years apart, researchers traced the motions of NGC 346’s stars, revealing them to be spiraling in toward the center of the cluster. This spiraling motion arises from a stream of gas from outside of the cluster that fuels star formation in the center of the turbulent cloud.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble within the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace, dispersing the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot, young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of this nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it — a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
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NASA’s Hubble Finds Spiraling Stars, Providing Window into Early Universe
Young Stars Sculpt Gas with Powerful Outflows in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Hubble’s Black and White View
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Hubble Captures Unique Ultraviolet View of a Spectacular Star Cluster
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Last Updated Apr 04, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Bethany Downer
ESA/Hubble Chief Science Communications Officer
bethany.downer@esahubble.org
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ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations Release on ESA’s website Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Exploring the Birth of Stars
Hubble’s 35th Anniversary
Hubble News
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By European Space Agency
Image: This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 210 000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium — what astronomers call metals — than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early Universe.
Although several images of NGC 346 have been released previously, this view includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, which are many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are the remnant of the birthplace of the stars in the cluster.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble from the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace and begin to disperse the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of the brilliant nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it — a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
[Image description: A star cluster within a nebula. The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds. Parts are thicker and pinker in colour. The cluster is made up of bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, before and behind the clustered stars, pressed together by the stars’ radiation. Behind the clouds of the nebula can be seen large numbers of orange stars.]
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By NASA
This is a test article in the live site I added this image
/wp-content/plugins/nasa-blocks/assets/images/media/media-example-01.jpgThis landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScIView the full article
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By NASA
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.NASA/Jason Richard The group toured the south Mississippi NASA center on March 19, learning how NASA Stennis operates as NASA’s primary, and America’s largest, rocket propulsion test site to serve the nation and commercial sector with its unique capabilities and expertise.
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.NASA/Jason Richard The day included tours of test stands and facilities hosted by NASA Stennis test complex personnel. Visits included the Fred Haise Test Stand, where NASA Stennis tests RS-25 engines to help power NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond; the Thad Cochran Test Stand, where NASA Stennis will test NASA’s exploration upper stage for future Artemis missions; the E Test Complex, where NASA Stennis supports agency and commercial propulsion test activity; and the L3Harris Technologies (formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne) Engine Assembly Facility, where RS-25 engines are produced.
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.NASA/Jason Richard The group also received overviews from site personnel on the Rocket Propulsion Test Program Office located at NASA Stennis, on lessons learned from testing at the E Test Complex, and on the NASA Data Acquisition System developed onsite.
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.NASA/Jason Richard The Rocket Test Group originally formed in response to a congressional demand for an ongoing working group crossing agency and company boundaries. It is a volunteer organization intended to allow rocket test facility operators to come together to recommend solutions for difficult testing problems; lower testing costs by reducing time spent on solving critical issues and eliminating duplicate programs; facilitate the activation of new facilities; learn from each other by viewing different methods and touring various facilities; provide a networking opportunity for testing advice and problem solving support; and allow test facility operators to stay informed on the newest developments.
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.L3Harris TechnologiesView the full article
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