Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week

An image of the Hubble Space Telescope in Earth's (Image source: NASA)

Hubble zoomed in on a neighboring region of the N159 star-forming complex. The image was selected as this week’s ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week. The image highlights the complicated interactions between stars and the gases from which they form.

Chibuike Okpara, Published 01/01/2026 🇩🇪

Astronomy / Space Science

N159 is one of the most massive star-forming clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado. The Large Magellanic Cloud itself is a dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. This galaxy is the largest of the small galaxies orbiting our Milky Way.

A recent Hubble image showed a part of N159, highlighting the bubble-like structures baby stars create within gas clouds. This new image shows something similar. However, in this image, cold hydrogen gas dominates even more.

The hydrogen gas forms a complex network of ridges, cavities, and glowing filaments. The bubble-like structures are also visible in this image. The hot, massive young blue stars emit strong stellar winds and intense radiation. These emissions carve out holes in the surrounding gas. This is what creates the bubble-like structures. Intense radiation from the young stars also ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas. This causes the gas to glow deep red, as seen in the image.

In the center of the image, thick dark dust is prominent. This dust blocks out light from stars in that region.

This Hubble image highlights the complex relationship between stars and their environment. It could help astronomers understand more about the cycle of creation and transformation of stars and their surroundings.

New Hubble image of the N159 region (Image source: ESA/Hubble, NASA, and R. Indebetouw)

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Source(s)

ESA

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Chibuike Okpara - Tech Writer - 337 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2024

I have always been fascinated by technology and digital devices my entire life and even got addicted to it. I have always marveled at the intricacy of even the simplest digital devices and systems around us. I have been writing and publishing articles online for about 6 years now, just about a year ago, I found myself lost in the marvel of smartphones and laptops we have in our hands every day. I developed a passion for learning about new devices and technologies that come with them and at some point, I asked myself, "Why not get into writing tech articles?" It is useless to say I followed up the idea — it is evident. I am an open-minded individual who derives an infinite amount of joy from researching and discovering new information, I believe there is so much to learn and such a short life to live, so I put my time to good use — learning new things. I am a 'bookworm' of the internet and digital devices. When I am not writing, you will find me on my devices still, I do explore and admire the beauty of nature and creatures. I am a fast learner and quickly adapt to changes, always looking forward to new adventures.

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