Starburst galaxy facts for kids

A starburst galaxy is a special type of galaxy that makes new stars super fast! Imagine a factory that suddenly starts working overtime, producing way more than usual. That's kind of what happens in a starburst galaxy. They create stars at an incredibly high speed.

Because they're making so many stars, these galaxies use up all their gas very quickly. Gas is the main ingredient for making stars. So, a starburst phase doesn't last long, maybe only a few tens of millions of years. This is a very short time in the life of a galaxy!

Most starburst galaxies are going through a big event. They might be crashing into another galaxy, or at least passing very close by. These close encounters stir up the gas inside the galaxies, causing the rapid star formation.

Studying starburst galaxies that are close to us helps scientists learn about how galaxies have grown and changed over time. Many very distant galaxies, like those seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in the Hubble Deep Field, are also starbursts. But they are too far away to study in detail. Looking at nearby ones gives us clues about what the early universe was like. The light from distant galaxies started its journey when the universe was much younger.

Starburst galaxies are not very common in our part of the universe today. But they were much more common billions of years ago! Back then, all galaxies were closer together. This meant they were more likely to bump into each other or pass by closely. More encounters led to more starbursts as galaxies changed and the universe expanded.

Famous Starburst Galaxies

Here are some well-known starburst galaxies:

• M82: This galaxy is often called the "Cigar Galaxy." It's the best example of a starburst galaxy and is interacting with a nearby galaxy called Messier 81.
• Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/NGC 4039): These are actually two galaxies that are crashing into each other and merging. They look like insect antennae!
• IC 10: This is the only starburst galaxy found in our own group of galaxies, called the Local Group. It's a milder starburst compared to others.
• Centaurus A: This is a special case because it's an elliptical galaxy that is also a starburst. Most starbursts are spiral galaxies.
• Messier 100: This is a beautiful spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. It's known as a "Grand Design" spiral because of its clear, well-defined spiral arms.
• Cartwheel galaxy: This galaxy is famous for its unique ring shape, which was likely caused by a head-on collision with another galaxy.

Images for kids

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  Light and dust in a nearby starburst galaxy

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  Artist's impression of a galaxy undergoing a starburst.

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  SBS 1415+437 is a galaxy with special stars called Wolf-Rayet stars, located about 45 million light-years from Earth.

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  Artist's impression of gas fueling distant starburst galaxies.

See also

In Spanish: Galaxia con brote estelar para niños