The center of
the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible near the
image center, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. A tremendously bright nearby star, Herschel 36, lights the area. Vast walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. As energy from these
stars pours into the cool dust and gas, large temperature differences in adjoining regions can be created generating shearing winds which may cause the funnels. This picture, spanning about 10 light years, combines images taken
in six colors by the orbiting Hubble Space
Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about 5000 light years distant toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius).
Image
Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan Özsaraç
Image & info via APOD
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