(July 8) -- More than 5,500 light years away, clouds of gas and dust are making a very pretty picture.
A telescope at the European Southern Observatory captured new photos of the Omega Nebula in the Milky Way, creating a "pastel fantasy" of color, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
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The Omega Nebula got its name because it is shaped like the last letter of the Greek alphabet, but it is also commonly called the Swan Nebula. This is not the first time the interstellar cloud has been photographed, but the new telescope images are a particularly detailed view of the nebula's center.
Astronomers have previously reported the nebula is one of the youngest and largest star-producing regions of the Milky Way, leading the Daily Mail to dub it a "stellar nursery." Star birth began in the nebula just a few million years ago and continues today.
The young stars give off an intense light that contributes to the vivid color of the nebula. The ultraviolet light of the new stars causes the intense glow of gases in the cloud, primarily hydrogen, but also oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur.
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