Super-Starburst Galaxy: J100054_023436
Ssc2008 12a

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Subaru/STScI

Observation • July 10th, 2008 • ssc2008-12a

ssc2008-12a

The green and red splotch in this image is the most active star-making galaxy in the very distant universe. Nicknamed "Baby Boom," the galaxy is churning out an average of up to 4,000 stars per year, more than 10 times the number produced in our own Milky Way galaxy. It was spotted 12.3 billion light-years away by a suite of telescopes, including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Baby Boom is a type of galaxy called a starburst. Like some other starbursts, it is thought to be a collection of colliding galaxies. As the galaxies smash together, gas becomes compressed, triggering the birth of stars. In this multi-wavelength portrait, the color red shows where loads of new stars are forming in Baby Boom, and where warm dust heated by the stars is giving off infrared light.

Green (visible-light wavelengths) denotes gas in the Baby Boom galaxy, while blue (also visible light) shows galaxies in the foreground that are not producing nearly as many stars. Yellow/orange (near-infrared light) indicates starlight from the outer portion of Baby Boom. The red blob to the left is another foreground galaxy that is not producing a lot of stars.

This composite contains data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer and Japan's Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.

About the Object

Name
J100054_023436
Type
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Galaxy > Activity > Starburst
Distance
12,300,000,000 Light Years
Redshift
4.5

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
Optical 446 nm Subaru
Optical 548 nm Subaru
Infrared 764 nm Subaru
Infrared 904 nm Subaru
Infrared 814 nm Hubble ACS
Infrared 3.6 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 4.5 µm Spitzer IRAC

Astrometrics

Position (J2000)
RA =10h 0m 27.9s
Dec = 2° 12' 3.5"
Field of View
0.2 x 0.2 arcminutes
Orientation
North is up