Immense Cloud Bubbles with Hydrogen and Infant Stars | Space Wallpaper

Immense Cloud Bubbles with Hydrogen and Infant Stars
A cosmic cloud known as Mon R2 holds bubbles of ionized hydrogen and baby stars at its center. (Image credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/HOBYS Key Programme consortium)

A cosmic cloud some 2700 light-years away has caught the attention of astronomers at the Herschel space observatory. At the heart of this mass lights flash and ripple outward from bubbles of ionized hydrogen. The superheated gases are linked to newborn stars clustered together at the center of the spectacular sight. [See more space clouds.]

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