NASA's Hubble Space Telescope provides a window into the depths of space that few can mentally grasp, and the natural beauty of the universe is difficult to digest.
On this occasion, NASA offers a couple dazzling views of the a vast stellar nursery known as the Lagoon Nebula to celebrate Hubble's 28th anniversary in space.
We'll let NASA describe what the images show:
"The colorful visible-light image at left reveals a fantasy landscape of ridges, cavities, and mountains of gas and dust. This dust-and-gas landscape is being sculpted by powerful ultraviolet radiation and hurricane-like stellar winds unleashed by a monster young star. Located at the center of the photo, the star, known as Herschel 36, is about 200,000 times brighter than our Sun. This hefty star is 32 times more massive than our Sun and 40,000 degrees Kelvin. Herschel 36 is still very active because it is young by a star’s standards, only 1 million years old."
The first image was taken in visible light, while the second image was captured in infared light. Both are stunning.
NASA points out that the infrared photo reveals the countless stars that appear in the infrared view. The giant star near the center of the frame is known as Herschel 36 and is especially visible in the second photo.
