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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A colourful star-forming region is featured in this stunning image of NGC 2467 located in the southern constellation of Puppis (The Stern). Looking like a roiling cauldron of some exotic cosmic brew, huge clouds of gas and dust are sprinkled with bright blue, hot young stars. Strangely shaped dust clouds, resembling spilled liquids, are silhouetted against a colourful background of glowing gas. Like the familiar Orion Nebula, NGC 2467 is a huge cloud of gas, mostly hydrogen, that serves as an incubator for new stars. Some of these youthful stars have emerged from the dense clouds where they were born and now shine brightly, hot and blue in this picture, but many others remain hidden. Image code: enebicp Image credit: NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.