Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a stellar jet in the Carina Nebula, some 7,500 light-years away. This image, taken in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light shows the top of a 3-light-year-long pillar, bathed in the glow of light from hot, massive stars off the top of the image. Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from these stars are sculpting the pillar and causing new stars to form within it. Nestled inside this dense structure are fledgling stars. Winds and radiation from some of the stars are blowing away gas from their neighborhoods, carving out large cavities that appear as faint dark holes. Surrounding the stellar nursery is a treasure chest full of stars.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2009/news-2009-25

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/