A new Hubble Space Telescope image delving into the N11 region of the Large Magellanic Cloud reveals bright bubbles of glowing gas and a region of frenetic star birth.
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys captures a broad vista of young stars and gas clouds in our neighbour galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image: NASA, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apellániz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain). N11, more formally known as LHA 120-N11, is often nicknamed the Bean Nebula after the shape that the cloud of pink billowing gas takes on. Rich with birthing pods containing infant stars, N11 is one of the most active regions of star-formation in the Universe, producing some of the most massive stars known.
Stretching over 1,000 light years the nebula is home to three generations of stars, with each generation forming further from the centre of the nebula than the last. Rings carved out in the nebula mark the sites where energetic newborn stars blasted their way into existence, throwing shells of gas and dust out into space.
Other sights to be seen in the vicinity include the compact nebula to the upper left of N11, N11A. Sporting a rose-like structure with petals of dust and gas that are lit up from the glow of massive hot stars within, N11A marks the site of the most recent burst of star formation in the region. Meanwhile, towards the bottom of the image lies star cluster NGC 1761, its massive young stars sparkling like jewels, as bright ultraviolet radiation streams away from them.
Although much smaller than our own Galaxy, the vigorous nature of star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud provides a natural laboratory for astronomers to study the birth and evolution of stars.
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