Amidst all of this, NGC 1808 is undergoing so much star formation it has been deemed a starburst galaxy . In the above color-enhanced photograph , regions of active star formation and shown by their blue glow. Here bright blue stars have recently formed and are energizing large clouds of surrounding hydrogen gas. The reddish brown regions indicate dense interstellar dust . The peculiar state of NGC 1808 may be caused by the gravity of neighboring galaxy NGC 1792 .
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