A firestorm or star birth lights up one end of the small galaxy Kiso 5639 located about 82 million light-years away from earth. Kiso 5639 is a rare example of an elongated galaxy, or "tadpole" galaxy, which are plentiful at larger distances

(NASA, ESA, and D. Elmegreen (Vassar College))

At a Glance

The Hubble Space Telescope captured what looks like a fireworks display in the nearby Kiso 5639 galaxy.Astronomers say the Kiso 5639 galaxy is a beautiful example of what galaxies long ago must have undergone.

What appeared to be an intergalactic Fourth of July fireworks display in a nearby galaxy was recently captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

In the photo, , located about 82 million light-years away, according to a release from NASA. Kiso 5639 is a rare example of an elongated galaxy, which are plentiful at larger distances where researchers observe how the universe likely appeared during earlier epochs. Astronomers suggest that the hectic birth of the star is due to intergalactic gas coming down on one end of the galaxy while it drifts through space.

“I think Kiso 5639 is a beautiful, up-close example of what must have been common long ago,” lead researcher Debra Elmegreen said in the release. “The current thinking is that galaxies in the early universe grow from accreting gas from the surrounding neighborhood. It’s a stage that galaxies, including our Milky Way, must go through as they are growing up.”

The Hubble Space Telescope, , was able to detect giant holes dotting the starburst head of the galaxy. According to the release, these cavities are likely from numerous supernova detonation, which would create aerial bursts similar to fireworks, carving out holes of rarefied superheated gas.

The telescope also uncovered several dozen clusters of stars in Kiso 5639’s 2,700 light-years wide star-forming head. These clusters have an average age of less than 1 million years and masses that are three to six times larger than those in the rest of the galaxy.

“There is much more star formation going on in the head than what you would expect in such a tiny galaxy,” team member Bruce Elmegreen said in the release. “And we think the star formation is triggered by the ongoing accretion of metal-poor gas onto a part of an otherwise quiescent dwarf galaxy.”

Bright gas in the galaxy’s head holds less heavier elements, or “metals”, like carbon and oxygen than the rest of the galaxy. Stars are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium, but have the ability to create other heavier elements. When they die, they release these heavy elements and enrich the gas surrounding them.

“The metallicity suggests that there has to be rather pure gas, composed mostly of hydrogen, coming into the star-forming part of the galaxy, because intergalactic space contains more pristine hydrogen-rich gas,” said Elmegreen. “Otherwise, the starburst region should be as rich in heavy elements as the rest of the galaxy.”

Elmegreen expects other parts of the galaxy to join in on the star-making fireworks show in the future.

“Galaxies rotate, and as Kiso 5639 continues to spin, another part of the galaxy may receive an infusion of new gas from this filament, instigating another round of star birth,” said Elmegreen.