The growth of galaxies is shaped by star formation and its interaction with the interstellar medium, but astronomers only have a sketchy picture of what’s happening. To fill in the data gaps, Vatican Observatory director José Funes, S.J., has been working with a team of scientists led by Robert Kennicutt of the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK, and Janice Lee of Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, California, to survey a suite of galaxies lying relatively nearby to our own Milky Way galaxy, close enough that they can map out the regions within these galaxies where stars are formed. The team aims to look at a wide range of different galaxy types, to discover the effects that their traits have on the way stars are formed and interact with their environment within their galaxies.