There’s something incredibly beautiful and poetic about a cloud of dust, moving through space. Made of the concentrated interstellar medium, these are some of the most captivating phenomena in space. Check out some of the loveliest nebulae in the entire cosmos.
A reflection nebula, (IC 4592) made up of very fine dust, reflecting the light of energetic nearby stars, in the constellation Scorpius, about 600 light-years from us.
(Photo by Scott Rosen/NASA)
Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), 700 light-years from us
(Photo by NASA/ESA/C.R. O’Dell/Vanderbilt University/Space Telescope Science Institute)
The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33), about 1,300 light-years away.
(Photo by NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team)
The Orion Nebula, approximately 1,400 light-years away
(Photo by NASA/ESA/M. Robberto/Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team and César Blanco González/NASA)
The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33), about 1,500 light-years away
(Photo by John Chumack/NASA)
The Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) around the bright star AE Aurigae, approximately 1,500 light-years from us.
(Photo by Martin Pugh/NASA)
IC 5067 in the Pelican Nebula, 2,000 light-years from us
(Photo by César Blanco González/NASA)
The Ring Nebula (Messier 57), about 2,500 light-years away
(Photo by NASA/ESA/C. Robert O’Dell/Vanderbilt University)
The Cone Nebula (NGC 2264), 3,000 light-years from Earth
(Photo by NASA/Holland Ford/ACS Science Team/ESA)
Cat’s Eye (NGC 6543), a glowing nebula approx. 3,000 light-years from us
(Photo by NASA/CXC/SAO/STScI)
The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), in the constellation Cygnus, about 5,000 light-years away.
(Photo by J-P Metsävainio/Astro Anarchy/NASA)
Knotty curls of dust and gas in the Monkey Head Nebula (NGC 2174 or Sharpless Sh2-252), 6,400 light-years away.
(via NASA/ESA/The Hubble Heritage)
The Crab Nebula, 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus
(Photo by NASA/ESA/Allison Loll/Jeff Hester)
A stellar spire and the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, 7,000 light-years away
(via NASA/ESA/The Hubble Heritage)
The Mystic Mountain and a detail of the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away
(Photo by NASA/ESA/M. Livio/Hubble 20th Anniversary Team)
The Hourglass Nebula (MyCn 18), 8,000 light-years from Earth
(Photo by Raghvendra Sahai/John Trauger/JPL/NASA/ESA)
The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380), located only 8,000 light-years from Earth
(Photo by Rolf Geissinger/NASA)
The Trifid Nebula (Messier 20), 9,000 light-years away
(Photo by NASA/ESA/Jeff Hester)
Details of Tarantula Nebula in infrared light, about 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
(Photos byESO/MPG/WFI/La Silla and NASA/ESA/ESO)
