Graceful Seagull

Clouds of gas and dust and thousands of new stars outline the Seagull Nebula, a vast stellar nursery along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. The "wings" span a hundred light-years. Many of the stars are especially hot, so they produce huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation. The UV zaps the surrounding gas, causing it to glow bright pink. Starlight also reflects off patches of dust, coloring them blue. Stars are still being born in the nebula, which is about 3,700 light-years away. [ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2]