Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2903
NGC 2903 is a
spiral galaxy similar to our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
Similarities include its general size and a
central bar.
One striking difference, however,
is the appearance of mysterious
hot spots in NGC 2903's core.
Upon inspection of the
above image and similar images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, these
hot spots were found to be bright
young globular clusters,
in contrast to the uniformly old
globular clusters
found in our
Milky Way Galaxy.
Further investigation has indicated that current
star formation is most rampant in a 2000
light-year wide
circumnuclear ring
surrounding NGC 2903's center.
Astronomers hypothesize that the gravity of the
central bar expedites star formation in this ring.
NGC 2903 lies about 25 million
light-years away and is visible with a
small telescope towards the constellation of
Leo.