"This image allows us to see for the first time the details of this object and to see that there is a cluster of several stars inside the nebula," Heydari-Malayeri said during a phone interview from his office at the Paris Observatory in France. "You cannot take such an image with an earth-bound telescopebecause the nebula is compact and small" and the individual stars cannot be distinguished.

N11a, as the nebula is formally called, measures about 8 light years across. It is located near the Dorado (Goldfish) constellation in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the smaller galaxies that orbits the Milky Way, and is visible mostly from the Southern Hemisphere. Astronomers believe the nebula is the youngest area of massive star formation there.

Just having more data helps astronomers understand massive star formation, Heydari-Malayeri said. "Right now, we know generally how stars form, but we don't know [specifically] how massive stars form," he added.

To further their understanding, Heydari-Malayeri and his colleagues from Germany, France and the United States will apply for more Hubble Space Telescope observing time. This image was taken in May, 2000 using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, in true-color.

The European Space Agency's efforts in the Hubble project collaboration guarantee it 15 percent of the telescope's observing time.

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