Credit: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), and NASA/ESA

This eerie, dark structure, resembling an imaginary sea serpent's head, is a column of cool molecular hydrogen gas (two atoms of hydrogen in each molecule) and dust that is an incubator for new stars. The stars are embedded inside finger-like protrusions extending from the top of the nebula. Each 'fingertip' is somewhat larger than our own solar system.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9544b/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License