1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,478 HUBBLE SPOTS SPIRALING STARS 2 00:00:03,478 --> 00:00:11,738 Astronomers found young stars spiraling into the center of a huge, oddly shaped stellar nursery called NGC 346. 3 00:00:11,738 --> 00:00:18,294 A spiral is the most efficient way to feed star formation from the outside toward the center. 4 00:00:18,294 --> 00:00:26,195 NGC 346 sits in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 200,000 light-years away. 5 00:00:26,195 --> 00:00:35,302 The SMC has a similar chemical composition to galaxies found in the younger universe, when heavier elements were more scarce. 6 00:00:35,302 --> 00:00:45,052 Because of this, the stars in the SMC burn hotter and run out of fuel quickly. 7 00:00:45,052 --> 00:00:55,790 SMC star formation provides insight into how a firestorm of star birth may have created a “baby boom” in the early universe. 8 00:00:55,790 --> 00:01:04,920 Extraordinarily precise observations were possible only because of Hubble’s high resolution and sensitivity. 9 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:13,677 Hubble’s three decades of observations provides a baseline for astronomers to follow celestial motions over time. 10 00:01:13,677 --> 00:01:25,140 Observing long-term changes like this advances our understanding of star formation and other mysteries of the universe. 11 00:01:25,140 --> 00:01:29,920 [ MUSIC ]