November 3, 1998
When you were born, the Sun rose on a world that had never seen you before. Since then, every dawn has arrived in a universe subtly altered...
Sextans A: A Seemingly Square Galaxy
Birthday · November 3, 1998
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APOD published November 3, 1998. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What's bothering local galaxy Sextans A? A small dwarf irregular galaxy spanning 5 thousand light years across, Sextans A is located only 5 million light-years away. Named for its home constellation of Sextans, the "diamond in the rough" structure relates to an ancient unknown event. 100 million years ago, something mysterious started a new wave of star formation in Sextans A's center. Massive short-lived stars exploded in supernovae that caused more star formation and yet more supernovae, ultimately resulting in an expanding shell. Today, young blue stars highlight areas and shell edges high in current star formation, a shell that from our perspective appears roughly square. In the above picture, a bright orange star in our own Milky Way Galaxy appears superposed in the foreground.