... The Milky Way in Stars and Dust . ... The disk of our Milky Way Galaxy is home to hot nebulae, cold dust, and billions of stars. ... Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas mingle ominously with dark dust lanes in this close-up of IC 1396, an active star forming region some 2,000 light years away in the constellation Cepheus. ... Towering pillars of cold gas and dark dust adorn the center star forming region of Sharpless 171. An open cluster of stars is forming there from the gas in cold molecular clouds. ...