Situated 12 million light years away in Ursa Major. NGC 3077 is lesser known third member of the M81 trio of galaxies. With a chaotic and disordered structure, it has obviously had a turbulent history.
Classed as a starburst dwarf galaxy, it contains a series of tidally disrupted structures with bright blue stars and debris scattered from previous gravitational encounters with the other trio members, most notably M81. Evidence of new star formation triggered by tidal interactions is present from the many HII regions iwithin its structure and at least 36 separate HII regions have been catalogued.
Another unusual aspect is the subtle blue core, which is surrounded by a disk consisting of an older stellar population. Normally it is the other way round, spiral galaxies consist of a golden core with blue spiral arms. The strange distribution of stellar matter is an indicator of a massive burst of new stars being formed near the core due to the raw material of star formation being centrally concentrated at the nucleus.
Imaged in LRGB and H alpha at Stellar Winds Observatory, New Mexico, OTA Planewave CDK 24.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby