This is the dwarf galaxy Holmberg-IX, discover as late as Sidney van den Bergh in 1959. It resides close to the edge of the M81galaxy. 90% of the stars in Holmberg-IX are young stars between 10-200 million years old, and the hole region is dominated by star formation, driven by gravitational interactions between Holmberg-IX and M81.

What looks like a Ha region above Holmberg-IX is actually a distant spiral galaxy. Beneath Holberg-IX there is a small pair of galaxies, that first seemed to be interacting, but a closer inspection show, that one is just obscuring the other.

Recent observation of the dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10 shows a very large supermassive black hole at the center, leading to new speculations about how dwarf galaxies might be early stages of what later becomes larger galaxies.

The image was composed by 158 images, from 106 different amateur astronomers using different telescopes.

For more information on the method used, look in the text for some of the other Crowd Images in my gallery.

Image Credits (Once again, thanks for sharing!)

Álvaro Pérez Alonso, A. Tag, Adam Evans, Alnitak2009, Alvinillo, Angel Requena, äquinoktium, AstroGG, astrojeff, Ben Browning, Ben Gilsrud, Bob ten Berge, budman1961, Carlos Martín López, Carsten Frenzl, chripell, Chris Benson, Chris Madson, Claustonberry, Cody Garges, Cosmosium, Dan Watt, David L Milligan, David Milligan, David Warrington, Davide Simonetti, Duncan Kitchin, EmileLeTueur, Eric Ganz, Eric Kallgren, FbThienVanHoc, Ferran Ginebrosa, Flavastro, Florian Meyer, Fred Locklear, Fredrik Ödling, g8ey_m, GBeck, geco71, gulielmus, Gustavo Naharro, iva, Jay, jdiwnab, Jérôme Béguin, Jose Carlos Castro, jpstanley, Jürgen Kemmerer, Justin Good, Kal, Ken_Lord, kinnerc, Kristian Urdal, lizarranet, Luca Argalia, Luca Billeri, Luigi Fontana, M.W.Hoy, Mario Bertsch, Marius Strom, matt wartell, Matthew Cheng, Matthias, Matti Nissinen, Mauro Narduzzi, Máximo Bustamante, Michele Fabrizio, Mike Durkin, Morten Balling, Mulberry24, nd-nʎ, NicolasP, Noriaki Tanaka, Olivier x, Owen, Patrick Denker, PaulHutchinson, pfile, Phil Hosey, Phillip Seeber, Rafael Leon, Ralph W, Ram Viswanathan, Roberto Ferrero, Rodrigo Cunha, s58y, Salvatore Iovene, SAQ mx, Sendell, Serge, Stan McQueen, Stefano Giardinelli, Stephen Rahn, Steve, Steve Elliott, Steve Yan, stevebryson, sweeper, Tim, Tom Harrison, vastateparksstaff, Vipula De Silva, Walliang Jacques, Wayne Young, zemt-fr, Zoeff.