This color composite image of nearby NGC 300 combines the visible-light
pictures from Carnegie Institution of Washington's 100-inch telescope at
Las Campanas Observatory (colored red and yellow), with ultraviolet views
from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Galaxy Evolution Explorer detectors
image far ultraviolet light (colored blue).
This composite image traces star formation in progress. Young hot blue
stars dominate the outer spiral arms of the galaxy, while the older stars
congregate in the nuclear regions which appear yellow-green. Gases heated
by hot young stars and shocks due to winds from massive stars and
supernova explosions appear in pink, as revealed by the visible-light
image of the galaxy.
Located nearly 7 million light years away, NGC 300 is a member of a nearby
group of galaxies known as the Sculptor Group. It is a spiral galaxy like
our own Milky Way.
