NASA posts image of ghostly blue objects, deep in the cosmos

"They disappear into nothingness within a few tens of thousands of years."
By Mark Kaufman  on 
NASA posts image of ghostly blue objects, deep in the cosmos
Bright patches of light near a new-born star. Credit: ESA/Hubble/ NASA, K. Stapelfeldt

When a star is born, a chaotic light show ensues.

NASA's long-lived Hubble Space Telescope captured vivid bright clumps moving through the cosmos at some 1,000 light years from Earth. The space agency called these objects clear "smoking gun" evidence of a newly formed star -- as new stars blast colossal amounts of energy-rich matter into space, known as plasma.

Seen as the vivid blue, ephemeral clumps in the top center of the new image below, these are telltale signs of an energy-rich gas, or plasma, colliding with a huge collection of dust and gas in deep space.

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As NASA says, these blue masses are transient creations in the cosmos, as "they disappear into nothingness within a few tens of thousands of years."

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Bright lights inside a nebula. Credit: ESA/Hubble/NASA/K. Stapelfeldt

These blue clumps are traveling at 150,000 mph toward the upper left direction (from our view, anyhow). In total, there are five of these ghostly clumps, hurtling through space.

NASA doesn't identify the new star itself, called SVS 13, perhaps because it's obscured by thick clouds of cosmic matter.

This collection of dust and gas is part of a distant nebula, which are often the remnants of exploded stars swirling through the infinity of space.

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Mark Kaufman

Mark is an award-winning journalist and the science editor at Mashable. After communicating science as a ranger with the National Park Service, he began a reporting career after seeing the extraordinary value in educating the public about the happenings in earth sciences, space, biodiversity, health, and beyond. 

You can reach Mark at [email protected].


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