Starburst galaxy

Turbulence, along with variations of time and space, cause the dense gas within a galaxy to compress and rapidly increase star formation.

These changes in the rate of star formation also led to variations with depletion time, and power a starburst with its own galactic mechanisms rather than merging with another galaxy.

These remnants interact with the surrounding environment within the starburst (the interstellar medium) and can be the site of naturally occurring masers.

Large numbers of the most distant galaxies seen, for example, in the Hubble Deep Field are known to be starbursts, but they are too far away to be studied in any detail.

However, starburst galaxies seem to be quite rare in our local universe, and are more common further away – indicating that there were more of them billions of years ago.

Maps of the regions made with radio telescopes show large streams of neutral hydrogen connecting the two galaxies, also as a result of the encounter.

[9] Radio images of the central regions of M82 also show a large number of young supernova remnants, left behind when the more massive stars created in the starburst came to the end of their lives.