NASA has shared a new and dazzling video tour of the Lagoon Nebula as taken by the Hubble telescope.
The video and accompanying image have both been released by NASA to commemorate the iconic space telescope’s 28th anniversary.
Some of the most iconic images of space have come courtesy of the Hubble space telescope thanks to its ability to see deep into our own galaxy and beyond.
The Lagoon Nebula is a staggering 4,000 light years away and if you were to look at it through a pair of binoculars it would be nothing more than a tiny smudge of light.
Yet through Hubble’s lens this huge stellar nursery is revealed in stunning detail.
At the centre you can make out the Herschel 36, a star some 32 times more massive than our own Sun and burning at a whopping 40,000 degrees Kelvin.
It is only 1 million years old, and due to its sheer power it will only live for another 5 million years before dying. In comparison our own Sun is around 5 billion years old and is expected to survive for another 5 billion more.
While stars like Herschel 36 are short-lived, their ferocity and power are common in stellar nurseries.
“This region epitomises a typical, raucous stellar nursery full of birth and destruction.” explains Karl Hille from NASA. “The clouds may look majestic and peaceful, but they are in a constant state of flux from the star’s torrent of searing radiation and high-speed particles from stellar winds. As the monster star throws off its natal cocoon of material with its powerful energy, it is suppressing star formation around it.”
Hubble’s life is coming to an end however and is set to be replaced by the larger and more powerful James Webb Telescope that NASA plans to launch in 2020.
With an expected lifespan of almost a decade it will become our main resource for taking images of deep space.