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| Galaxy NGC 4314 is a barred spiral galaxy located some 40 million light years away toward the constellation Coma Berenices. Barred spiral galaxies differ from ordinary spiral galaxies in that they exhibit a bar-shaped concentration of stars that runs across the nucleus of the galaxy and from which the spiral arms emanate. This image features a purple ring of stars, gas, and dust that encircles the galactic nucleus. The ring is about 1000 light years across. (The bar is not especially evident in this image.) The ring is made up of stars that are generally less than 5 million years old and is the only site of new star formation in the entire galaxy. |
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