The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of UGC 4879, the most isolated dwarf galaxy in the periphery of the Local Group of Galaxies.
The drizzle of stars scattered across this Hubble image forms a nearby irregular dwarf galaxy known as UGC 4879. Image credit: NASA / ESA.
UGC 4879, otherwise known as VV124 and LEDA 26142, is an irregular dwarf galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major.
This galaxy is very isolated. It is located 3.6 million light-years from our Milky Way Galaxy and 3.9 million light-years from the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31).
The dwarf galaxy Leo A is the nearest neighbor of UGC 4879, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million light-years.
According to astronomers, this isolation makes UGC 4879 an ideal laboratory for studying pristine star formation uncomplicated by interactions with other galaxies.
There are only two other galaxies in the Local Group with similar, although slightly lower, degree of isolation: DDO 210 and SgrDIG, located in the direction opposite to that of UGC 4879.
Studies of this galaxy have revealed a significant amount of star formation in the first 4-billion-years after the Big Bang, followed by a strange 9-billion-year lull in star formation, ended one billion years ago by a more recent reignition.
The reason for this behavior, however, remains mysterious, and the solitary galaxy continues to provide ample study material for astronomers looking to understand the complex mysteries of starbirth throughout the Universe.
This picture of UGC 4879 was snapped by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).
The image was made through a near-infrared (F814W) filter and a wide V-band (F606W) filter.
