These images reveal dramatic activities within the core of the Galaxy NGC 3079, where a lumpy bubble of hot gas rises from a cauldron of glowing matter. Image at left shows the bubble in the center of the galaxy's disk. Structure being more than 3,000 light years wide and rising 3,500 light years above the galaxy's disk. Small photo to the right is a close-up of the bubble being blown by high speed streams of particles released during bursts of star formations. Gaseous filaments at the top of the bubble whirl around a vortex and are expelled into space. Eventually, the gas rains down upon the galaxy's disk where it may collide with gas clouds, compress them, and form new generations of stars. The two white dots just above the bubble are stars in the galaxy. NGC 3079 is 50 million light years from Earth in the Constellation Ursa Major. Glowing gas is imaged red and starlight is blue/green. Photo was taken in 1998 by Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2).
