KISO 5639 Tadpole Galaxy (IMAGE) Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) Caption A firestorm of star birth is lighting up one end of the diminutive galaxy Kiso 5639. The dwarf galaxy is shaped like a flattened pancake, but because it is tilted edge-on, it resembles a skyrocket, with a brilliant blazing head and a long, star-studded tail. Credit NASA, ESA, and D. Elmegreen (Vassar College), B. Elmegreen (IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center), J. Almeida, C. Munoz-Tunon, and M. Filho (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), J. Mendez-Abreu (University of St. Andrews), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), M. Rafelski (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and D. Ceverino (Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University) Usage Restrictions Documents and materials on the IAC website are copyright of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. Use for commercial and publicity purposes is not authorised. Text and images may only be reproduced with the prior express permission of the Science Communication and Education Unit of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. To request permission: Include the address of the image (or information about it) in a request addressed to the Head of the Communication and Scientific Culture Unit (secUC3@iac.es) explaining what the image will be used for. License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.