Nebulas and Cosmic Structures

Vivid infrared images of stunning cosmic nebulae, showcasing star formation and intricate patterns in the depths of space.

The Fox Fur Nebula, located towards the constellation of Monoceros, is an immense cloud of interstellar gas and cosmic dust interacting with the radiation and winds released by the surrounding hot, young stars

This carved-out cloud of gas and dust has been nicknamed the Jack-o'-lantern Nebula because it looks like a cosmic hollowed-out pumpkin. Powerful outflows of radiation and particles from a massive star known as an O-type star and about 15 to 20 times heavier than the Sun has likely swept the surrounding dust and gas outward, creating deep gouges in the cloud. The image shows infrared light (which is invisible to the human eye) captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

NASA's WISE, shows a cosmic nebula blossoming with new stars. The stars, called the Berkeley 59 cluster, are the blue dots to the right of the image center.

The Eagle nebula, an industrious star-making factory located 7,000 light-years away in the Serpens constellation. The image shows the region's entire network of turbulent clouds and newborn stars in infrared light. Hubble Space Telescope (HST),Spitzer Space Telescope.

Outer space art. Starfield. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Outer space art. Starfield. Awesome nebulae. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/SpacexTelescopexSciencexInstitutx 18468233

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission presents the 'Wreath nebula.' The nebula's official name is Barnard 3, or IRAS Ring G159.6-18.5. Regions similar to this nebula are found near the band of the Milky Way galaxy in the night sky.

NGC 3372, The Eta Carinae Nebula.

The Omega Nebula, a starforming region in the constellation Sagittarius.

This WISE mosaic is of the Soul Nebula (a.k.a. the Embryo Nebula, IC 1848, or W5). It is an open cluster of stars surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas over 150 light-years across and located about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, near the Heart Nebula.

The Cocoon nebula is featured in this image from NASA's WISE. This cloud of dust and gas, cataloged as IC 5146 and located in the constellation Cygnus, is wrapped in a dark cloud of dust called Barnard 168. Within this cocoon of dust and gas, new stars are forming and beginning to emerge into the wild.

The Fox Fur Nebula, located towards the constellation of Monoceros, is an immense cloud of interstellar gas and cosmic dust interacting with the radiation and winds released by the surrounding hot, young stars

These false-color image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the 'South Pillar' region of the star-forming region called the Carina Nebula.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey captured this view of a runaway star racing away from its original home. Surrounded by a glowing cloud of gas and dust, the star AE Aurigae appears on fire. Appropriately, the cloud is called the Flaming Star nebula.

Detail of the Pelican Nebula

The Orion nebula is featured in this sweeping image from NASA's WISE. The constellation of Orion is prominent in the evening sky throughout the world from about December through April of each year.

Outer Space Red Galaxy Stars Universe Cosmic Background

Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree cluster.

Deep space. Elements of this image furnished by NASA Deep space. Awesome science fiction render. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/EvgeniixPuzanovx 18256848

Spitzer Space Telescope false-colour image of South Pillar region of tsar-forming region called the Carina Nebula. Star embryos (yellow or white) inside finger-like pillars of thick dust (pink). Hot gases are green. Credit NASA

Endless universe with stars and galaxies in outer space. Cosmos art. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex from NASA's WISE. The Rho Ophiuchi cloud is found rising above the plane of the Milky Way in the night sky, bordering the constellations Ophiuchus and Scorpius. It's one of the nearest star-forming regions to Earth.

NGC 2264, The Cone Nebula Region.

On the Verge of a Supernova

This visible light/infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a swirling landscape of stars known as the North America nebula. Clusters of young stars (about one million years old) can be found throughout the image.

Wizard Nebula

The broad vista of young stars and gas clouds in our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Retouched image

Messier 42, the Orion Nebula.

The Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades, located more than 400 light-years away in the Taurus constellation, seem to float on a bed of feathers in a new infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope. Clouds of dust sweep around the stars, swaddling them in a cushiony veil. The star cluster was born when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, about one hundred million years ago. It is significantly younger than our 5-billion-year-old sun. The brightest members of the cluster, also the highest

Spitzer Space Telescope infrared image of a snake (upper left) and surrounding stormy environment. It is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. Credit NASA.

This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope transforms a dark cloud into a silky translucent veil, revealing the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star.

This shot from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a maelstrom of glowing gas and dark dust within one of the Milky Ways satellite galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This stormy scene shows a stellar nursery known as N159, an HII region over 150 light-years across. N159 contains many hot young stars. These stars are emitting intense ultraviolet light, which causes nearby hydrogen gas to glow, and torrential stellar winds, which are carving out ridges, arcs, and filaments from the surrounding material. At the heart of this cosmic cloud lies the Papillon Nebula, a butterfly-shaped region of nebulosity. This small, dense object is classified as a High-Excitation Blob, and is thought to be tightly linked to the early stages of massive star formation. N159 is located over 160,000 light-years away. It resides just south of the Tarantula Nebula (heic1402), another massive star-forming complex within the LMC. This image comes from Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys. The regio

This star-forming region, captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, is dominated by the bright, young star IRAS 13481-6124 (upper left), which is about twenty times the mass of our sun and five times its radius, and is surrounded by its pre-natal cocoon.

The fighting dragons nebula, NGC 6188, and the emission nebula NGC 6164.

NGC 2264, The Cone Nebula Region

Outer Space Galaxy Stars Universe Cosmic Background

NGC 2080, nicknamed 'The Ghost Head Nebula,' is one of a chain of star-forming regions lying south of the 30 Doradus nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

This image shows the famous Pleiades cluster of stars as seen through the eyes of WISE.

The Heart and Soul nebulae are seen in this infrared mosaic from NASA's WISE. Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, about 6,000 light-years from Earth, the Heart and Soul nebulae form a vast star-forming complex that makes up part of the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. The nebula to the right is the Heart, and to the left is the Soul nebula.

The Lobster Claw Nebula SH2-157 in the Cassiopeia constellation

Nebula, cluster of stars in deep space. Science fiction art. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

Starfield. Elements of this image furnished by NASA Starfield. Cosmos art. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/EvgeniixPuzanovx 18267252

Awesome of endless cosmos. Elements of this image furnished by NASA Awesome of endless cosmos. Science fiction wallpaper. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/EvgeniixPuzanovx 18477807

A dying star (center) surrounded by a cloud of glowing gas and dust. The star and its cloud halo constitute a 'planetary nebula' called NGC 246. Spitzer Space Telescope.

Sadr region in Cygnus constellation.

This false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a dying star (center) surrounded by a cloud of glowing gas and dust.

IC 1805 in Cassiopeia

North American Nebula and Pelican Nebula Landscape of star clusters one million years old known as the North American and Pelican Nebula upper right Retouched & cleaned version of original image from Spitzer Telescope - NASA/JPL-Caltech Copyright: xZoonar.com/Ing.xSchiederxMarkusx 5935026

The aptly named Cocoon nebula is featured in this image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. This cloud of dust and gas is located in the constellation Cygnus, and is wrapped in a dark cloud of dust called Barnard 168.

Nebula, cluster of stars in deep space. Elements of this image furnished by NASA Nebula, cluster of stars in deep space. Science fiction art. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/EvgeniixPuzanovx 18483489

A new infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, showcases the Tadpole nebula, and asteroids that just happened to be cruising by.

Sending chills down the spine of all arachnophobes is the Tarantula nebula, seen in this image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer; the nebula is the largest star-forming region known in our entire Local Group of galaxies.

Outer Space Green Galaxy Stars Universe Cosmic Background

NGC 1973, The Running Man Nebula.

Omega Nebula

Widefield view of the Crescent Nebula, also known as NGC 6888

This infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer shows the Lambda Centauri nebula, a star-forming cloud in our Milky Way galaxy, also known as the Running Chicken nebula.

The Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades star cluster, located more than 400 light-years away in the Taurus constellation. Spitzer Space Telescope.

The Heart and Soul nebulae are seen in this infrared mosaic from NASA's WISE. Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, about 6,000 light-years from Earth, the Heart and Soul nebulae form a vast star-forming complex that makes up part of the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. The nebula to the right is the Heart, and to the left is the Soul nebula.

NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer has uncovered a striking population of young stellar objects in a complex of dense, dark clouds in the southern constellation of Circinus.

Awesome of endless cosmos. Science fiction wallpaper. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

Diffuse nebula NGC 6357 in the constellation Scorpius.

This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a wispy, vast structure in the constellation Perseus with a small bubble right in its center puffed out by the spasms of fresh-formed, heavyweight stars

This mosaic from NASA's WISE Telescope is of the Soul Nebula. It is an open cluster of stars surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas located about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, near the Heart Nebula.

This infrared portrait of the Small Magellanic Cloud, taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals the stars and dust in this galaxy as never seen before. This nearby satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy is some 200,000 light-years away.

A detailed view of the Eagle Nebula, Messier 16.

This WISE mosaic is of the Soul Nebula (a.k.a. the Embryo Nebula, IC 1848, or W5). It is an open cluster of stars surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas over 150 light-years across and located about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, near the Heart Nebula (partially seen in the WISE image of Maffei 1 & 2).The cluster of stars, IC 1848, formed about a million years ago from the material of the nebula. Winds and ultraviolet light from these young stars are excavating a cavity in the cloud. Parts of the cloud that are more dense than their surroundings are being eroded more slowly and form giant towers, or pillars of dust and gas, which all point toward the central star cluster.

In the quest to better understand the birth of stars and the formation of new worlds, astronomers have used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to examine the massive stars contained in a cloudy region called Sharpless 140.

Infrared image from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope showing the Rosette nebula, a pretty star-forming region more than 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. lurking inside this delicate cosmic rosebud are so-called planetary danger zones (see spheres illustrations in figure 1). These zones surround super hot stars, called O-stars (blue stars inside spheres), which give off intense winds and radiation. Young, cooler stars that just happen to reside within one of these zones are in danger of having their dusty planet-forming materials stripped away. This image shows infrared light captured by Spitzers infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 24 microns is red; light of 8 microns is green; and light of 4.5 microns is blue.

NGC 7822 and Cederblad 214

Stars, dust and gas nebula in a far galaxy Stars, dust and gas nebula in a far galaxy. Elements of this image furnished by NASA Copyright: xZoonar.com/gannaxacheretx 12157918

This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a wispy, vast structure in the constellation Perseus with a small bubble right in its center puffed out by spasms of fresh-formed, heavyweight stars.

This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a 'snake' (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope took this image of a baby star sprouting two identical jets.

This image shows the famous Pleiades cluster of stars as seen through the eyes of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer; they are what astronomers call an open cluster of stars, loosely bound to each other to eventually go their separate ways.

Cederblad 214 emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus.

Explosion of Infrared Color

NASA's WISE captured this image of a huge complex of star-forming clouds and stellar clusters found in the constellation Cygnus.

infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers refer to as a snake (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment. The object is the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. The blue dots are foreground stars. The red ball at the bottom left is a supernova remnant, the remains of massive star that died in a fiery blast. Astronomers speculate that radiation and winds from the star before it died, in addition to a shock wave created when it exploded, might have played a role in creating the snake. The snake is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. T

The Soul Nebula, with the pillars LBN 669 and LBN 670.

The Crab Nebula

NASA's WISE captured this colorful image of the nebula BFS 29 surrounding the star CE-Camelopardalis, found hovering in the band of the night sky comprising the Milky Way.

NASA image release April 23, 2010This craggy fantasy mountaintop enshrouded by wispy clouds looks like a bizarre landscape from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" or a Dr. Seuss book, depending on your imagination. The NASA Hubble Space Telescope photograph, which is stranger than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks.This turbulent cosmic pinnacle lies within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The image marks the 20th anniversary of Hubble's launch and deployment into Earth orbit.Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from hot newborn stars in the nebula are shaping and compressing the pillar, ca

The Heart Nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia.

This image represents a view of NASA's Kepler's supernova remnant taken in X-rays, visible light, and infrared radiation, indicating that the bubble of gas that makes up the supernova remnant appears different in various types of light.

Vitually impossible to photograph from the US, Bill Williams and Tony Hallas captured this image from the Florida Keys during the 2006 Winter Star Party when it was just a few degrees about the horizon. A powerful star-forming nebula with the star Eta Carina embedded in the nebulosity,

Beauty of endless cosmos. Science fiction art. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

NGC 7822 starforming complex in Cepheus.

The California Nebula, aka NGC 1499, in Perseus.

Omega Nebula, Messier 17.

This image shows data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, from the IRAC instrument, with colors corresponding to wavelengths of 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0 µm (shown as blue, green, orange and red). The grand red delta filling most of the image is a far-away nebula, or a cloud of gas and dust. A second nebula is located in the lower right portion of the image. Within the first nebula, on the left side of this image, a dark filament runs horizontally through the green cloud. A smattering of baby stars (the red and yellow dots) appear inside it. Known as Cepheus C, the area is a particularly dense concentration of gas and dust where infant stars form. This region is called Cepheus C because it lies in the constellation Cepheus, which can be found near the constellation Cassiopeia. Cepheus-C is about 6 light years long, and lies about 40 light-years from the bright spot at the tip of the nebula. Two features identified in the annotated image are visible only in the multi-instrument version of

View of Abell 85 supernova remnant in constellation Cassiopeia

A star-forming region shines from the considerable distance of more than 30,000 light-years away in the upper left of this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This image is a combination of data from Spitzer and the Two Micron All Sky Survey.

Infrared view of the Lagoon Nebula, also know as, Messier 8. Dated 2010

The Cave Nebula and surroundings.

IC 1848, the Soul Nebula in Hubble-palette color mapping

two companion galaxies, NGC 4625 (top) and NGC 4618 (bottom), and their surrounding cocoons of cool hydrogen gas (purple). The huge set of spiral arms on NGC 4625 (blue) was discovered by the ultraviolet eyes of NASAs Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Though these arms are nearly invisible when viewed in optical light, they glow brightly in ultraviolet. This is because they are bustling with hot, new-born stars that radiate primarily ultraviolet light. The vibrant spiral arms are also quite lengthy, stretching out to a distance four times the size of the galaxys core. They are part of the largest ultraviolet galactic disk discovered so far. The purple nebulosity shown here illustrates that hydrogen gas an ingredient of star formation is diffusely distributed around both galaxies. This means that other unknown factors led to the development of the arms of NGC 4625.

Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree cluster.

IC 1805, the Heart Nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia.

NGC 2244, the open cluster within the Rosette Nebula, which is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros

IC405, diffuse nebula in the constellation Fuhrmann in the northern starry sky, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

NGC 6357, the Lobster Nebula in Scorpius.

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