This amazing picture of stars being born inside a nebula was taken by Daniel Lopez using Grantecan.
Near the centre of the picture is a dark red spot – that’s the new star which shines mostly in the infrared. The butterfly shape is a large disk of dust and gas orbiting the star. The gas near the star shines because it is ionized (like the inside of a flourescent tube) and the gas farther from the star shines with reflected light. The nebula is studded with hundreds of small, dim stars called brown dwarfs.
This nebula is about 2 light-years across and about 2000 light-years away.
