Notes:
Starburst Galaxies
Here we have another image of a spiral galaxy, where the Hydrogen light has been exaggerated. In this case we can see an enormous bubble of gas expanding out from the centre of the the galaxy.
This is a galaxy which formed part of my research as an undergraduate student at Birmingham university. NGC 3079 is a starburst galaxy, in its nucleus hundreds of stars are constantly exploding in supernovae. The pressure of such explosions blows a galactic superbubble of gas out of centre of the galaxy. Again this is an enhanced colour image. Here the colours have been chosen so that red represents hydrogen gas, showing us the nebulae and the galactic supperbubble. I simulated the formation of this superbubble which then gave us information on the age of the bubble and hence the history of the galaxy’s starburst period, and information regarding the galaxy’s gas structure.