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HUBBLE SPOTS
SPIRALING STARS

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Astronomers found young stars spiraling into the center of
a huge, oddly shaped stellar nursery called NGC 346.

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A spiral is the most efficient way to feed
star formation from the outside toward the center.

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NGC 346 sits in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite
galaxy of the Milky Way, located 169,000 light-years away.

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The SMC has a similar chemical composition
to galaxies found in the younger universe,
when heavier elements were more scarce.

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Because of this, the stars in the SMC
burn hotter and run out of fuel quickly.

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SMC star formation provides insight into how a firestorm
of star birth may have created a “baby boom” in the early universe.

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Extraordinarily precise observations were possible only
because of Hubble’s high resolution and sensitivity.

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Hubble’s three decades of observations provides a
baseline for astronomers to follow celestial motions over time.

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Observing long-term changes like this advances our
understanding of star formation and other mysteries of the universe.

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