Located at the end of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms, this bright nebula is home to the birth of new stars.

Known as Sh2-284, this star nest belongs to the class of emission nebulae. The young stars inside emit powerful ultraviolet rays that energize the surrounding gas and cause the nebula to glow with its own light.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this mesmerizing image in near-infrared light, revealing the stars lurking behind Sh2-284's dense clouds of gas and dust. Infrared light, unlike visible light, can pass through these obstacles and reveal stars forming deep within the nebula.

This is the first of four new images shared today at the #SXSW conference. Created with archival Hubble data, these images once again showcase the scientific capabilities of Hubble as it approaches its 35th anniversary next month!

 

Image description:

Faint, hazy clouds of gas and dust interspersed with blue and pink stars against the dark background of space. Some bright pink spots of clustered stars and knots of dark brown dust can be seen.

Image credits: NASA, ESA and M. Andersen (European Southern Observatory - Germany); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)