The galaxy NGC 3310 is a member of a rare class known as "starburst" galaxies, which blaze with extremely active star formation.
There are several hundred star clusters in NGC 3310, visible in this Hubble image as the bright blue, diffuse objects that trace the galaxy's spiral arms. Each of these star clusters represents the formation of up to about a million stars, a process that takes less than 100,000 years. In addition, hundreds of individual young, luminous stars can be seen throughout the galaxy.
Once formed, the star clusters become redder with age as the most massive and bluest stars exhaust their fuel and burn out. Measurements in this image of the wide range of cluster colors show that they have ages ranging from about one million up to more than one hundred million years. This suggests that the starburst "turned on" over 100 million years ago.
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Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA);
Acknowledgment: G.R. Meurer and T.M. Heckman (JHU), C. Leitherer, J. Harris, and D. Calzetti (STScI), and M. Sirianni (JHU)
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