A new Hubble image comes to us like a good #Valentine!

This #HubbleFriday image shows part of the Tarantula Nebula. This is the most prolific star formation region in the nearby Universe and is home to the most massive stars known to exist.

The nebula contains colorful clouds of gas, twigs and clumps of dark dust. This dust is different from ordinary household dust, which can contain bits of soil, skin cells, hair and even plastic.

Cosmic dust is usually made of carbon or molecules called silicates, which contain silicon and oxygen.

Image description:

A section of the Tarantula Nebula composed of layers of dust clouds of various colors. The top layer is dense and light obscuring dark reddish dust, so dense that it appears black in places. In the middle layer are faint clouds that are as thick as curling wisps of smoke. These form a wide arc across the center of the image. Many small, bright stars stretch across the nebula. Depending on the depth, they appear blue, purple or red.

Image credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray