The rich patchwork of gas clouds in this new image make up part of a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula (also known as Gum 56 and IC 4628). Taken using the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, this may well be one of the best pictures ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula. Credit: ESO
Deeply immersed in this huge stellar nursery are 3 clusters of hot young stars – only a few million years old – which glow brightly in UV light. It is the light from these stars that causes the nebula’s gas clouds to glow. The radiation strips electrons from atoms ie ionisation, – and when they recombine they release energy in the form of light...
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