Hubble s Cosmic Reef
Explanation:
These
bright ridges of interstellar gas
and dust are bathed in energetic starlight.
With its sea of young stars, the massive star-forming region NGC 2014
has been dubbed the Cosmic Reef.
Drifting just off shore, the smaller NGC 2020,
is an expansive blue-hued structure erupting from a single central
Wolf-Rayet star,
200,000 times brighter than the Sun.
The
cosmic frame
spans some 600 light-years within the
Large Magellanic Cloud
160,000 light-years away,
a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.
A magnificent Hubble Space Telescope portrait,
the image was released this week as part of a celebration
to mark Hubble's 30th year
exploring
the Universe from Earth orbit.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
