NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered an enormous cosmic reef 163,000 light years away in the constellation Dorado. This reef is an awe-inspiring element of the Milky Way's massive satellite galaxy, part of the vast star-forming region of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The stars near the centre of the image are 10 to 20 times the size of our Sun and emit intense radiation, heating dense gases such as oxygen, clearly visible in the dark blue colour, to 20,000°F (11,000°C). Hydrogen and nitrogen are found at lower temperatures and are seen in shades of red. The nebula in the lower left is the result of a series of eruptive events in which a star 200,000 times brighter than our Sun spews out gas.

Image description: The image is divided into two parts. In the first part, in the lower left corner, a bright blue ring appears with a small blue dot in the centre and fading outwards. Waves of red and orange gas ripple from the upper left to the upper right. Among these waves, a light blue centre and a few bright white dots stand out. In the other section, in the upper right corner, dark blue gas is seen emanating from the darkness of space.

It's beautiful, isn't it?