Since its deployment in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has observed many galaxies, including the 18 dwarf galaxies above. These dwarf galaxies, located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), are on average 100 times less massive than our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Despite this, they produce stars at a much faster rate -- doubling their star count in about 10 million years. In contrast, it would take the Milky Way a thousand times as long to double its stellar content. Scientists don't quite understand why these small galaxies have such a high rate of star production, and they hope that when the James Webb Space Telescope launches later this decade, it will provide more clues as to the galaxies' formation and composition.

Below, recent Pictures of the Day:

Image: Nasa.