Fireworks of Star Formation Light Up a Galaxy

Newly released images obtained with the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope in July 1997 reveal episodes of star formation that are occurring across the face of the nearby galaxy NGC 4214. Located some 13 million light-years from Earth, NGC 4214 is currently forming clusters of new stars from its interstellar gas and dust. In the Hubble image, we can see a sequence of steps in the formation and evolution of stars and star clusters. The picture was created from exposures taken in several colour filters with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 .