Tarantula Nebula Star Forming Gas Cloud Sculpture Postcard

An awesome postcard featuring the Tarantula Nebula of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This Hubble image shows old stars from the distant past and rich, interstellar gas clouds feeding the formation of new ones. The most massive and hottest stars are intense, high-energy radiation sources and this pushes away what remains of the gas and dust, compressing and sculpting it. As the whorls and eddies clump and stretch, gravity takes over and the birth of the next generation of stars is triggered. Image credit: NASA, the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) and ESA