Inside a Chaotic Nebula

Day 21 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: inside a chaotic nebula. Sharpless 2-106 is a nebula several light-years across, seen here by Hubble in 2011. It lies 2,000 light-years away, in a relatively isolated region of the Milky Way galaxy. A massive young star is responsible for the furious activity we see inside the nebula. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central star. A ring of dust and gas orbiting the star acts as a belt, cinching the expanding nebula into an hourglass shape.

See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25.