In this composite image of the Omega Nebula, SOFIA detected the blue areas (20 microns) near the center, revealing gas as it's heated by massive stars located at the center, near the bend, and the green areas (37 microns) that trace dust as it's warmed both by massive stars and nearby newborn stars. The nine never-before-seen protostars were found primarily in the southern areas. The red areas near the edge represent cold dust that was detected by the Herschel Space Telescope (70 microns), while the white star field was detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope (3.6 microns). The space telescopes could not observe the blue and green regions in such detail because the detectors were saturated. SOFIA's view reveals evidence that parts of the nebula formed separately to create the swan-like shape seen today. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23409

In this sturning image provided by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Omega Nebula (M17) resembles the fury of a raging sea, showing a bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen gas and small amounts of other elements such as oxygen and sulfur. The nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, is a hotbed of newly born stars residing 5,500 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The wavelike patterns of gas have been sculpted and illuminated by a torrent of ultraviolet radiation from the young massive stars, which lie outside the picture to the upper left. The ultraviolet radiation is carving and heating the surfaces of cold hydrogen gas clouds. The warmed surfaces glow orange and red in this photograph. The green represents an even hotter gas that masks background structures. Various gases represented with color are: sulfur, represented in red; hydrogen, green; and oxygen blue.

This sturning image, taken by the newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), is an image of the center of the Omega Nebula. It is a hotbed of newly born stars wrapped in colorful blankets of glowing gas and cradled in an enormous cold, dark hydrogen cloud. The region of nebula shown in this photograph is about 3,500 times wider than our solar system. The nebula, also called M17 and the Swan Nebula, resides 5,500 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The Swan Nebula is illuminated by ultraviolet radiation from young, massive stars, located just beyond the upper-right corner of the image. The powerful radiation from these stars evaporates and erodes the dense cloud of cold gas within which the stars formed. The blistered walls of the hollow cloud shine primarily in the blue, green, and red light emitted by excited atoms of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Particularly striking is the rose-like feature, seen to the right of center, which glows in the red light emitted by hydrogen and sulfur. As the infant stars evaporate the surrounding cloud, they expose dense pockets of gas that may contain developing stars. One isolated pocket is seen at the center of the brightest region of the nebula. Other dense pockets of gas have formed the remarkable feature jutting inward from the left edge of the image. The color image is constructed from four separate images taken in these filters: blue, near infrared, hydrogen alpha, and doubly ionized oxygen. Credit: NASA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (USCS/LO), M. Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA.

NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a new, infrared view of the choppy star-making cloud called M17, also known as Omega Nebula or the Swan nebula.

NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a new, infrared view of the choppy star-making cloud called M17, or the Swan nebula.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago. Called the Veil Nebula, the debris is one of the best-known supernova remnants, deriving its name from its delicate, draped filamentary structures. The entire nebula is 110 light-years across, covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth, and resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. This 3-D visualization flies across a small portion of the Veil Nebula as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/hubble-zooms-in-on-shrapnel-from-an-exploded-star" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/hubble-zooms-in-on-shrapnel-...</a> Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, and L. Frattare (Viz 3D Team, STScI) <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>