Baby Stars Illuminate Web of Glowing Gas

NGC 346, the brightest star-forming region in the neighbouring Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy, lies some 210,000 light-years away from Earth. The image was obtained at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. (Image credit: ESO)

A dramatic new image of a star cluster in our neighboring galaxy

The cluster, designated NGC 346, is a loosely bound

This hotbed of activity is about 210,000 light-years away

The newly released image was captured by the 2.2-meter (7.2

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Clara Moskowitz is a science and space writer who joined the Space.com team in 2008 and served as Assistant Managing Editor from 2011 to 2013. Clara has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She covers everything from astronomy to human spaceflight and once aced a NASTAR suborbital spaceflight training program for space missions. Clara is currently Associate Editor of Scientific American. To see her latest project is, follow Clara on Twitter.