July 1st, 2004

esahubble_heic0411a

January 3rd, 2002

esahubble_opo0201a

January 8th, 2007

esahubble_heic0702a

This image shows a dark interstellar cloud ravaged by the passage of Merope, one of the brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster. Just as a torch beam bounces off the wall of a cave, the star is reflecting light from the surface of pitch-black clouds of cold gas laced with dust. As the nebula approaches Merope, the strong starlight shining on the dust decelerates the dust particles. The nebula is drifting through the cluster at a relative speed of roughly 11 kilometres per second.

December 6th, 2000

esahubble_opo0036a

This series of images show three evolutionary phases of massive star formation, as pictured in infrared images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

January 27th, 2015

spitzer_sig15-001

Volunteers using the web-based Milky Way Project brought star-forming features nicknamed "yellowballs" to the attention of researchers, who later showed that they are a phase of massive star formation.

January 27th, 2015

spitzer_sig15-002