Explanation:
Like brush strokes on a canvas,
ridges of color seem to
flow
across this scene.
But here, the canvas is nearly 3 light-years wide and
the colors map emission from ionized gas in the Lagoon
Nebula, recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope's
Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Also known as M8, the nebula is a
star forming region
about 5,000 light-years distant in the constellation
Sagittarius.
Hubble's remarkably sharp,
close-up
view reveals undulating
shapes sculpted by the energetic light and winds from the
region's new born stars.
Of course,
the Lagoon nebula is a popular target for earthbound skygazers, too.
It features a prominent dust lane and bright hourglass shape in
small telescopes with wider fields of view.
