SBS 1415+437 (Image Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL)

A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope features SBS 1415+437 (otherwise known as SDSS CGB 12067.1): a rare type of galaxy called a Wolf-Rayet galaxy (naturally, they contain high concentrations of Wolf-Rayet stars).

Eclipsing even the largest and most unstable high-mass stars, Wolf-Rayet stars are volatile beyond imagination—they happen to be extremely large, hot and luminous to boot. These things ultimately work against stars of this nature, causing them to die out rather quickly—in only a few hundred thousand years (for comparison, Sun-like stars live around 10 billion years, and normal blue-white stars live hundreds of millions of years before going supernova).

SBS 1415+437, which is also a compact dwarf galaxy, can be found approximately 45 million light-years from Earth toward the constellation of Boötes

See a larger image here.


Share This Article