WA starburst galaxy is a galaxy undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star formation rate of the Milky Way galaxy is approximately 3 M☉/yr; however, starburst galaxies can experience star formation rates that are more than a factor of 33 times greater. In a starburst galaxy, the rate of star formation is so large that the galaxy will consume all of its gas reservoir, from which the stars are forming, on a timescale much shorter than the age of the galaxy. As such, the starburst nature of a galaxy is a phase, and one that typically occupies a brief period of a galaxy's evolution. The majority of starburst galaxies are in the midst of a merger or close encounter with another galaxy. Starburst galaxies include M82, NGC 4038/NGC 4039, and IC 10.
WA low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) is a type of galactic nucleus that is defined by its spectral line emission. The spectra typically include line emission from weakly ionized or neutral atoms, such as O, O+, N+, and S+. Conversely, the spectral line emission from strongly ionized atoms, such as O++, Ne++, and He+, is relatively weak. The class of galactic nuclei was first identified by Timothy Heckman in the third of a series of papers on the spectra of galactic nuclei that were published in 1980.
WArp 220 is the result of a collision between two galaxies which are now in the process of merging. It is the 220th object in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.
WThe Baby Boom Galaxy is a starburst galaxy located 12.2 billion light years away. Discovered by NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, the galaxy is the record holder for the brightest starburst galaxy in the very distant universe, with brightness being a measure of its extreme star-formation rate. The Baby Boom Galaxy has been nicknamed "the extreme stellar machine" because it is seen producing stars at a rate of up to 4,000 per year. The Milky Way galaxy in which Earth resides turns out an average of just 10 stars per year.
WCentaurus A is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type and distance. NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. The galaxy is also the fifth-brightest in the sky, making it an ideal amateur astronomy target, although the galaxy is only visible from low northern latitudes and the southern hemisphere.
WCL J1001+0220 is, as of 2016, the most distant known galaxy cluster. Discovered in 2016 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory in conjunction with the ESO's UltraVISTA telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, it has a redshift of z=2.506, placing it at a distance of 11.1 billion light-years from Earth. The galaxy cluster appears to be undergoing the transformation from a galaxy cluster that is still forming, a proto-cluster, to a mature cluster, and it is the first such cluster observed in this stage of its evolution. The cluster consists of seventeen galaxies, and nine of the eleven massive galaxies closest to its center are starburst galaxies which together are forming new stars at the rate of about 3,400 Suns per year. In contrast, the Milky Way produces only the equivalent of one Sun per year, so these galaxies at the core of the cluster are producing stars at a rate three thousand times greater than the Milky Way on average. Other galaxy clusters at ten billion light years and closer have far less star formation, and this suggests that star formation slows down in large galaxies within clusters after the galaxies have already come together during the development of a galaxy cluster.
WFSC15307+3253 is an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG), with a luminosity between 8 and 1000 µm of approximately 2×1013 L⊙, possibly the highest currently known. The "FSC" refers to Faint Source Catalogue, one of the source catalogs produced by the IRAS infrared survey mission. The emission is believed due to some combination of starburst activity and accretion onto a super-massive black hole, producing primary radiation at shorter wavelengths which is mostly blocked by obscuring dust, which is in turn heated and re-radiates in the infrared. The redshift of the source is z = 0.93, indicating a distance of the order of 7 billion light years.
WHaro 11 (H11) is a small galaxy at a distance of 300,000,000 light-years (redshift z=0.020598). It is situated in the southern constellation of Sculptor. Visually, it appears to be an irregular galaxy, as the ESO image to the right shows. H11 is named after Guillermo Haro, a Mexican astronomer who first included it in a study published in 1956 about blue galaxies. H11 is a starburst galaxy that has 'super star clusters' within it and is one of nine galaxies in the local universe known to emit Lyman Continuum photons (LyC).
WHUDF-JD2 is a distant, massive, post-starburst galaxy that was discovered with the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) image. It was the most distant galaxy identified in the HUDF, in 2005. It is located at 03h 32m 38.7268s −27° 48′ 39.885″ in the constellation of Fornax.
WHXMM01, known more formally as 1HERMES S250 J022016.5−060143, is a starburst galaxy located in the northwestern portion of the constellation Cetus. Discovered in 2013 by a team at the University of California, Irvine, it was discovered that HXMM01 is actually still forming from its two parent galaxies as part of the "brightest, most luminous and most gas-rich submillimeter-bright galaxy merger known." When the merger is complete, HXMM01 will rapidly evolve to become a giant elliptical galaxy with a mass about four times that of the Milky Way. As of 2013, HXMM01 has been observed to form about 2,000 M☉ of stars every year, with an efficiency ten times greater than that of typical galaxies and far more than the Milky Way's 0.68–1.45 M☉ per year.
WIC 10 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by Lewis Swift in 1887 and in 1935 Nicholas Mayall became the first to suggest that the object is extragalactic. Edwin Hubble suspected it might belong to the Local Group of galaxies, but its status remained uncertain for decades. The radial velocity of IC 10 was measured in 1962, and it was found to be approaching the Milky Way at approximately 350 km/s, strengthening the evidence for its membership in the Local Group. Its membership in the group was finally confirmed in 1996 by direct measurements of its distance based on observations of Cepheids. Despite its closeness, the galaxy is rather difficult to study because it lies near the plane of the Milky Way and is therefore heavily obscured by interstellar matter.
WMCG+07-33-027 is an isolated spiral galaxy located about 330 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It has a very high rate of star formation which would make it a starburst galaxy. Normally, starburst galaxies are triggered by the collision of another galaxy. However most galaxies are in groups or clusters, while MCG+07-33-027 is solitary. Therefore, the cause of the starburst was not due to a collision or by the passing of a nearby galaxy and so the cause of the activity remains unknown.
WMessier 82 is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. A member of the M81 Group, it is about five times more luminous than the whole Milky Way and has a center one hundred times more luminous than our galaxy's center. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81. As the closest starburst galaxy to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type. SN 2014J, a type Ia supernova, was discovered in the galaxy on 21 January 2014. In 2014, in studying M82, scientists discovered the brightest pulsar yet known, designated M82 X-2.
WMessier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on February 23, 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects in March 1781. It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, and is visible with binoculars. Its nickname of the Southern Pinwheel derives from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101).
WNGC 688 is a barred spiral galaxy with starburst activity located 190 million light-years away in the constellation Triangulum. It was discovered by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest on September 16, 1865 and is a member of the galaxy cluster Abell 262.
WNGC 908 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is 60 million light years away from Earth. NGC 908 has vigorous star formation and is a starburst galaxy. The galaxy has a three-arm spiral pattern; two of its arms have peculiar morphology. The galaxy has a bright central bulge. Clusters of young stars and star-forming knots can be seen in the arms. Starburst activity and the peculiar morphology of the galaxy indicate it had a close encounter with another galaxy, although none are visible now. NGC 908 was discovered in 1786 by William Herschel. Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 908, SN 1994ai and SN 2006ce. It is the main galaxy in the NGC 908 group, which also includes NGC 899, NGC 907, and IC 223.
WNGC 1140 is an irregular galaxy in the southern constellation of Eridanus. Estimates made using the Tully–Fisher method put the galaxy at about 59 million light years. It was discovered on 22 November 1786 by William Herschel, and was described as "pretty bright, small, round, stellar" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.
WNGC 1222 is an early-type lenticular galaxy located in the constellation of Eridanus. The galaxy was discovered on 5 December 1883 by the French astronomer Édouard Stephan. John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue, described it as a "pretty faint, small, round nebula" and noted the presence of a "very faint star" superposed on the galaxy.
WNGC 1275 is a type 1.5 Seyfert galaxy located around 237 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Perseus. NGC 1275 corresponds to the radio galaxy Perseus A and is situated near the center of the large Perseus Cluster of galaxies.
WNGC 1334 is a spiral galaxy located about 185 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. It was discovered by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest on February 14, 1863. NGC 1334 is a member of the Perseus Cluster and is a starburst galaxy. It also appears to have a complex distorted structure.
WNGC 1614 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Eridanus. It was discovered on December 29, 1885 by American astronomer Lewis Swift, who described it in a shorthand notation as: pretty faint, small, round, a little brighter middle. The nebula was then catalogued by Danish-Irish astronomer J. L. E. Drayer in 1888. When direct photography became available, it was noted that this galaxy displayed some conspicuous peculiarities. American astronomer Halton Arp included it in his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. In 1971, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky described it as a "blue post-eruptive galaxy, compact patchy core, spiral plumes, long blue jet SSW".
WNGC 1808 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Columba, about two degrees to the south and east of Gamma Caeli. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, who described it as a "faint nebula". The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1808 group, which is part of the larger Dorado Group.
WNGC 2146 is a barred spiral galaxy type SB(s)ab pec in the constellation Camelopardalis. The galaxy was discovered in 1876 by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke.
WNGC 2782 is a peculiar spiral galaxy that formed after a galaxy merger in the constellation Lynx. The galaxy lies 75 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 2782 is approximately 100,000 light years across. NGC 2782 has an active galactic nucleus and it is a starburst and a type 1 Seyfert galaxy. NGC 2782 is mentioned in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies in the category galaxies with adjacent loops.
WNGC 3859 is a spiral galaxy located about 295 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by astronomer Édouard Stephan on March 23, 1884. The galaxy is a member of the Leo Cluster.
WNGC 3921 is an interacting galaxy in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. Estimates using redshift put the galaxy at about 59 million light years away. It was discovered on 14 April 1789 by William Herschel, and it was described as "pretty faint, small, round" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.
WNGC 4490, also known as the Cocoon Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It lies at a distance of 25 million light years from Earth. It interacts with its smaller companion NGC 4485 and as a result is a starburst galaxy. NGC 4490 and NGC 4485 are collectively known in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 269. NGC 4490 is located 3/4° northwest of beta Canum Venaticorum and with apparent visual magnitude 9.8, can be observed with 15x100 binoculars. It is a member of Herschel 400 Catalogue. It belongs in Canes Venatici galaxy cloud II.
WNGC 4666 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo, located at a distance of approximately 55 megalight-years from the Milky Way. It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784. John L. E. Dreyer described it as "bright, very large, much extended 45°±, pretty suddenly brighter middle". It is a member of an interacting system with NGC 4668 and a dwarf galaxy, and belongs to a small group that also includes NGC 4632.
WNGC 6045 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 450 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules. NGC 6045 was discovered by astronomer Lewis Swift on June 27, 1886 and is a member of the Hercules Cluster. It is also a LINER galaxy.
WNGC 6810 is a spiral galaxy approximately 87 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Pavo.
WNGC 7673 is a disturbed spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pegasus. The galaxy has recently experienced intense star formation activity and may therefore be referred to as a starburst galaxy.
WThe Sculptor Galaxy is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. The Sculptor Galaxy is a starburst galaxy, which means that it is currently undergoing a period of intense star formation.
WTololo 1247-232 ) is a small galaxy at a distance of 652,000,000 light-years. It is situated in the southern equatorial constellation of Hydra. Visually, Tol 1247 appears to be an irregular or possibly a barred spiral galaxy. Tol 1247 is named after the surveys that were carried at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the first of which was in 1976. It is one of nine galaxies in the local universe known to emit Lyman continuum photons.
Wz8_GND_5296 is a dwarf galaxy discovered in October 2013 which has the highest redshift that has been confirmed through the Lyman-alpha emission line of hydrogen, placing it among the oldest and most distant known galaxies at approximately 13.1 billion light-years (4.0 Gpc) from Earth. It is "seen as it was at a time just 700 million years after the Big Bang [...] when the universe was only about 5 percent of its current age of 13.8 billion years". The galaxy is at a redshift of 7.51, and it is a neighbour to what was announced then as the second-most distant galaxy with a redshift of 7.2. The galaxy in its observable timeframe was producing stars at a phenomenal rate, equivalent in mass to about 330 Suns per year.