Hubble Space Telescope gives rare glimpse of nebula 4,000 light years away

OUTER SPACE (FOX 13) - For 28 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has had a magnificent view.

In celebration of its anniversary in space, NASA released two stunning and drastically different images showing the same view of Lagoon Nebula, which is 4,000 light-years away from Earth. They said it is the first time people on our planet has seen it in great detail. 

One image was captured in visible light spectrum and the other is an infrared image. A monster young star, Herschel 36, unleashed hurricane-like winds and ultraviolet radiation to create the dusty landscape seen in the visible photo. It reveals the “fantasy landscape of ridges, cavities, and mountains of gas and dust.” The star is about 200,000 times brighter than our Sun, NASA said, and 32 times more massive. It’s about one million years old, which is considered young in star standards.

The infrared image sees through the vast clouds of gas and dust to uncover an abundance of stars. NASA said most are distant, located behind the nebula. Herschel 36, located near the center of the frame, shines even brighter in this view. 

For additional information on Hubble, click over to NASA’s official website: www.nasa.gov/hubble.