Baby Boom in Galaxy NGC 3310

Most galaxies form new stars at a fairly slow rate, but members of a rare class known as 'starburst' galaxies blaze with extremely active star formation. The galaxy NGC 3310 is one such starburst galaxy that is forming clusters of new stars at a prodigious rate. Scientists using the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope are perfecting a technique to determine the history of starburst activity in NGC 3310 by studying the colours of its star clusters.