Embryo Nebula

This image dives into the heart of a great dark cloud in the constellation of Perseus, one of the most active stellar nurseries close to us, about 960 light-years away. Curtains of dust hide the background stars and give the scene its inky depths.

A little to the left of centre, a small bluish heart stands out against the black: it has been nicknamed the Embryo Nebula. It is a reflection nebula: it does not produce its own light, it reflects that of a hot star nearby, a little like dust in a sunbeam. All around, tucked into the cloud, hundreds of young stars less than a million years old are finishing their formation.

The youngest betray their presence with powerful jets of matter. Launched at nearly 250,000 kilometres per hour, they slam into the surrounding gas and light it up in small red glows: Herbig-Haro objects. These streaks last only a few tens of thousands of years before fading; on the scale of the cosmos, we catch them in a flash of youth.