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Dazzling displays of star formation
abound across the face of galaxy NGC 4214, a mere 13 million light-years
away in the northern constellation Canes Venatici.
While this 1997 Hubble Space Telescope
image shows the numerous faint, older stars of NGC 4214, the most eye-catching
features are the galaxy's bright young star clusters surrounded by fluorescent
gas clouds.
Sculpted into bubbles and filamentary
shapes by energetic explosions and stellar winds from massive cluster
stars, the clouds fluoresce in the intense stellar ultraviolet radiation.
The colorful spectacle of massive young star forming clusters and distinguished
presence of a fainter, older stellar population indicate that NGC 4214
has experienced star formation episodes spanning billions of years.