... Clouds and Stars over Cotopaxi Volcano in Ecuador . ... The clouds surrounding the star system Rho Ophiucus compose one of the closest star forming regions. ... M87: Elliptical Galaxy with Jet . ... The largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies lies in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Were the Tarantula Nebula at the distance of the Orion Nebula -- a local star forming region -- it would take up fully half the sky. ...