August 10, 2008—The Hubble Space Telescope provided this glimpse inside the Tarantula nebula, a dynamic celestial nursery.

In this stunning region, some 170,000 light-years away, dramatic processes of star birth and renewal unfold.

Swirling, towering concentrations of dark dust and glowing gasses are spotlighted by ultraviolet radiation.

The nebula's scale is enormous. The seahorse-shaped pillar at lower right is some 20 light-years tall—about four times the distance from our sun to Alpha Centauri, the closest star outside our solar system.

—Brian Handwerk

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