Starburst Galaxy IC 10 Is Pretty. Shiny.

Maybe it’s because it’s late as fuck as I’m typing this and it’s dark and I’m cold and I’m pretty sure my own Star has turned its back on me, but this image is striking a chord with me. I mean, goddamn. Look at that picture. Look at *all* those fucking stars.

NASA:

Lurking behind dust and stars near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, IC 10 is a mere 2.3 million light-years distant. Even though its light is dimmed by intervening dust, the irregular dwarf galaxy still shows off vigorous star-forming regions that shine with a telltale reddish glow in this colorful skyscape. In fact, also a member of the Local Group of galaxies, IC 10 is the closest known starburst galaxy. Compared to other Local Group galaxies, IC 10 has a large population of newly formed stars that are massive and intrinsically very bright, including a luminous X-ray binary star system thought to contain a black hole. Located within the boundaries of the northern constellation Cassiopeia, IC 10 is about 5,000 light-years across.

5,000 light-years across. Tremendous.