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Large Magellanic Fireworks


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Many points of light are scattered across the black background of space like confetti. At center are blue and orange strands, debris from a star explosion.
NASA, STScI/AURA

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a stellar explosion throwing out sheets of debris in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy on July 7, 2003. Since its 1990 launch, Hubble has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe; with over 1.5 million observations and 20,000+ papers published on its discoveries, Hubble is the most productive science mission in the history of NASA.

See more stunning images from Hubble – and experience some of the images through sound.

Image Credit: NASA, STScI/AURA

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