Star-forming gas cloud lights up in new telescope photo
A brilliant cloud of gas shines beautifully 163,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy not that far from the Milky Way.
The gas of the nebula, named LHA 120-N55, is illuminated by the young, hot blue stars that formed relatively recently in that hotbed of stellar activity, giving scientists a new glimpse into how and why stars form in certain parts of space.
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LHA 120-N55 was photographed by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile, but this nebula is only part of this cosmic region's story.
LHA 120-N55 is actually within a "superbubble" called LMC 4, according to the ESO.
These kinds of cosmic objects are many light-years across and are produced when supernovas explode, jostling the gas in their part of space and produce "cavities" in the gas, the ESO added.
Things are eventually going to heat up in LHA 120-N55.
A cluster of stars -- called LH 72 -- within the nebula will likely go supernova in millions of years, blowing the dust and gas of LHA 120-N55 away from its current position.
"In effect, a bubble will be blown within a superbubble, and the cycle of starry ends and beginnings will carry on in this close neighbor of our home galaxy," the ESO said in a statement.
The colors of the stars and gas in the image is also related to the new group of stars forming in the region.
Hydrogen glows pink in the new image because the hot blue stars in the area strip the electrons from the hydrogen atoms, making the gas glow, the ESO said.
Scientists use this pinkish glow to track new stars being born in various galaxies.
If you happen to be in the Southern Hemisphere, you can see the Large Magellanic Cloud with the naked eye while stargazing on a clear night.
You won't be able to spot LHA 120-N55 specifically, but the somewhat small galaxy and its counterpart the Small Magellanic Cloud look like fuzzy stellar clouds in a dark sky.
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Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
