Spidery Nebula

Although it looks a bit like a giant spider hanging upside down from its web, this is actually a stellar nursery--a vast cloud of gas and dust that's giving birth to new stars. Known as the Coronet cluster, it's in the constellation Corona Australis, the southern crown. The region was imaged in the infrared, which shines through the dust, revealing details that are hidden from view at the wavelengths visible to the eye. [European Southern Observatory/Meingast et al.]