This image taken by NASA's Hubble space telescope, which looks like the rage of a turbulent sea, actually shows a bubbling ocean of glowing hydrogen gas.

The Omega Nebula, located about 5,500 light-years from Earth, is hidden just outside this image, above and to the left. This star-forming region is shaped and illuminated by a flood of ultraviolet radiation from new stars, forming wave-like patterns of gas.

Ultraviolet radiation erodes and heats the surfaces of cold hydrogen gas clouds. These heated surfaces glow orange and red in the photograph. The high heat and pressure cause some material to move away from these surfaces, creating a blanket of even hotter greenish gas that hides the background structures. The pressure at the ends of the waves can trigger the birth of new stars.

This image was released in 2003 to commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of Hubble's launch on 24 April 1990. Hubble continues to study the universe, helping astronomers and scientists understand our universe.

Image description:

A colourful, hazy nebula. Shades of green and blue dominate the upper left corner, while waves of orange, red and dark gas fill the lower and right sides. A handful of stars shine through the gas nebula.

Does it look like a sea wave to you?