N44 is a complex nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, located about 170 thousand light years from Earth. This nebula contains glowing hydrogen gas, dark dust lanes and many stars of different ages. But one of its most striking features is the dark, star-filled ‘super-bubble’ seen near the top of this image taken by the NASA Hubble space telescope.

This space, about 250 light years wide, is a complete mystery: It could have been created by stellar winds from the massive stars at the centre of the bubble, or by the expanding remnants of old supernovae.

Image description:

This image of a distant nebula is filled with many stars of various colours and sizes. Dust and gas cover the image in regions of varying density, but an oval-shaped region near the top centre of the image contains almost no dust and therefore allows the stars within it to shine.

Isn't a giant star bubble beautiful?