Check out this brilliant image of spiral galaxy NGC 2841, from the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3. This galaxy has an unusually low rate of star creation — you can tell by the absence of the pinkish glow of emission nebulae, which would indicate new star birth. What’s going on? NASA explains:
It is likely that the radiation and supersonic winds from fiery, super-hot, young blue stars cleared out the remaining gas (which glows pink), and hence shut down further star formation in the regions in which they were born. NGC 2841 currently has a relatively low star formation rate compared to other spirals that are ablaze with emission nebulae.
A massive version of this image, suitable for Desktoppery, is available at the link. [Hubble Site]
