30 This image of the Doradus star formation region shows a luminous bouquet of thousands of stars coming together. This composite image was created by combining X-ray data from the @NASAChandraXray observatory (in shades of blue and green), optical data from @NASAHubble (in yellow) and radio data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (in red).

Since 1999, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been observing in low Earth orbit and is one of the most powerful X-ray telescopes studying the universe. It has provided astronomers with important information about black holes, distant galaxies and starbursts, helping to discover the secrets of the universe.

Image description:

A composite image of a star-forming region in space known as 30 Doradus, shaped like a bouquet or maple leaf. X-ray wind and gas form a huge purple and pink bouquet with a large central flower. The hazy, mottled shape takes up most of the image and is located just to the left of the center. Inside the purple and pink cloud of gas and wind are red and orange veins and pockets of bright white light. The hazy purple and pink bouquet is surrounded by green, white, orange and red glowing dots. A second mottled purple cloud resembling a smoke ring floats in the lower right corner.

Credit: X-ray (Chandra): NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al; Infrared (Spitzer): NASA/JPL-CalTech/SST; Optical (Hubble): NASA/STScI/HST; Radio (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array): ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/ALMA; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, K. Arcand