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Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Unveils a Glittering View of Sh2-284
Hubble’s infrared view of emission nebula Sh2-284 provides a glimpse of the brilliant young stars hidden within clouds of gas and dust. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Andersen (European Southern Observatory – Germany); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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A tiny fraction of the stellar nursery known as Sh2-284 is visible in this glittering, star-filled NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. This immense region of gas and dust is the birthing place of stars, which shine among the clouds. Bright clusters of newborn stars glow pink in infrared light, and clouds of gas and dust, resembling puffy cumulus clouds, are dotted with dark knots of denser dust.
This image shows an infrared view from Hubble, giving an excellent view of the stars that might otherwise be obscured by Sh2-284’s clouds. Unlike visible light, infrared wavelengths can travel through clouds of gas and dust, providing a glimpse of the stars forming within the obscuring clouds.
The nebula is shaped by a young central star cluster, Dolidze 25 (not visible in the Hubble image), whose stars range from 1.5 to 13 million years old (our Sun, in contrast, is 4.6 billion years old). The cluster blasts out ionizing winds and radiation, pushing at the gas and dust of the nebula and carving out intricate shapes and pillars, as seen in detail here. This ionizing radiation gives Sh2-284 its classification as an HII region, an emission nebula consisting primarily of ionized hydrogen. An emission nebula like Sh2-284 glows with its own light as stars within or nearby energize its gas with a flood of intense ultraviolet radiation.
The ground-based image (top) of M24 shows the location of the Hubble view (bottom). The European Southern Observatory’s visible-light image shows prominent clouds of gas and dust, while the Hubble image’s infrared vision highlights the stars within and behind the clouds. Ground-based image: ESO/VPHAS+ Team; Hubble image: NASA, ESA, and M. Andersen (European Southern Observatory – Germany); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Sh2-284 is also a low-metallicity region, which means it is poor in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. These conditions mimic the early universe, when matter was mostly helium and hydrogen and heavier elements were just beginning to form via nuclear fusion within massive stars. Hubble took these images as part of an effort to examine how low metallicity influences stellar formation and how this would apply to the early universe.
Sh2-284 resides 15,000 light-years away at the end of an outer spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation Monoceros.
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Mar 08, 2025 Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Emission Nebulae Goddard Space Flight Center Nebulae Star-forming Nebulae The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble’s Cosmic Adventure
Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge
Hubble’s 35th Anniversary
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By NASA
ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Sankrit In this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, Hubble once again lifts the veil on a famous — and frequently photographed — supernova remnant: the Veil Nebula. The remnant of a star roughly 20 times as massive as the Sun that exploded about 10,000 years ago, the Veil Nebula is situated about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. Hubble images of this photogenic nebula were first taken in 1994 and 1997, and again in 2015.
This view combines images taken in three different filters by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, highlighting emission from hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms. The image shows just a small fraction of the Veil Nebula; if you could see the entire nebula without the aid of a telescope, it would be as wide as six full Moons placed side-by-side.
Although this image captures the Veil Nebula at a single point in time, it helps researchers understand how the supernova remnant evolves over decades. Combining this snapshot with Hubble observations from 1994 will reveal the motion of individual knots and filaments of gas over that span of time, enhancing our understanding of this stunning nebula.
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By NASA
Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, entering lunar orbit on Monday, March 3. Credit: Intuitive Machines Carrying NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations, Intuitive Machines is targeting their Moon landing no earlier than 12:32 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 6. The company’s Nova-C lunar lander is slated to land in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence.
Watch live landing coverage of the Intuitive Machines 2 (IM-2) landing, hosted by NASA and Intuitive Machines, on NASA+ starting no earlier than 11:30 a.m., approximately 60 minutes before touchdown. Beginning at 11 a.m. the agency will share blog updates as landing milestones occur.
Following the Moon landing, NASA and Intuitive Machines will host a news conference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss the mission, technology demonstrations, and science opportunities that lie ahead as lunar surface operations. begin.
U.S. media interested in participating in person must request accreditation by 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, by contacting the NASA Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. To ask questions via phone, all media must RSVP by 4 p.m. March 5 to the NASA Johnson Newsroom, and dial in at least 15 minutes before the briefing begins.
Full coverage of the IM-2 mission includes (all times Eastern):
Thursday, March 6
11:30 a.m. – Landing coverage begins on NASA+ 12:32 p.m. – Landing 4 p.m. – Post-landing news conference on NASA+ After landing, NASA and Intuitive Machines leaders will participate in the news conference:
Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Clayton Turner, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Steve Altemus, CEO, Intuitive Machines Tim Crain, chief growth officer, Intuitive Machines The IM-2 mission launched at 7:16 p.m. Feb. 26 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The lander is carrying NASA technology that will measure the potential presence of resources from lunar soil that could be extracted and used by future explorers to produce fuel or breathable oxygen.
In addition, a passive Laser Retroreflector Array on the top deck of the lander will bounce laser light back at any orbiting or incoming spacecraft to give future spacecraft a permanent reference point on the lunar surface. Other technologies on this delivery will demonstrate a robust cellular network to help future astronauts communicate and deploy a propulsive drone that can hop across the lunar surface to navigate its challenging terrain.
NASA continues to work with multiple American companies to deliver technology and science to the lunar surface through the agency’s CLPS initiative. This pool of companies may bid on contracts for end-to-end lunar delivery services, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth, and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA’s CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum value of $2.6 billion through 2028. The agency awarded Intuitive Machines the contract to send NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon using its American-designed and -manufactured lunar lander for approximately $62.5 million.
Through the Artemis campaign, commercial robotic deliveries will test technologies, perform science experiments, and demonstrate capabilities on and around the Moon to help NASA explore in advance of Artemis Generation astronaut missions to the lunar surface, and ultimately crewed missions to Mars.
Learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media, and follow all events at:
https://www.plus.nasa.gov
Let people know you’re following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtag #Artemis. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
X: @NASA, @NASA_Johnson, @NASAArtemis, @NASAMoon, @NASA_Technology
Facebook: NASA, NASAJohnsonSpaceCenter, NASAArtemis, NASATechnology
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAJohnson, @NASAArtemis
For more information about the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
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Karen Fox / Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
Natalia Riusech / Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
natalia.s.riusech@nasa.gov / nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Mar 04, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Artemis Earth's Moon Johnson Space Center Science Mission Directorate View the full article
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