This active region of old and new stars is located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Cervus. This complex cluster of emission nebulae, known as N11, was discovered in 1956 by American astronomer and NASA astronaut Carl Gordon

This Hubble image shows a complex cluster of emission nebulae embedded in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This active region of old and new stars is located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Cervus. This complex collection of emission nebulae, known as N11, was discovered in 1956 by American astronomer and NASA astronaut Carl Gordon Henize. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope provides new images of a star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a nearby dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way.

Spanning about 1,000 light-years in diameter, N11’s vast filaments weave stellar material together like glowing cotton candy. These cotton-like gas clouds are ionized by an ever-increasing number of young, massive stars, giving the complex its cherry-pink appearance. Across N11, huge cavities erupt from the mist. These bubbles were formed by the violent birth and death of stars within the nebula.

Their stellar winds and supernovae carved the surrounding region into a blanket of gas and dust. N11’s stellar activity has attracted the attention of many astronomers, as it is one of the largest and most energetic regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud. To study the distribution of stars in N11, scientists used Hubble’s Advanced Survey Camera, which takes advantage of its sensitivity and excellent wide-angle resolution.

The cluster is home to a large number of stars that Hubble can study, including regions where stars have stopped forming and regions where stars are still forming. Thanks to Hubble’s unique capabilities, astronomers were able to comprehensively explore the stellar diversity of the N11 complex and map the differences between each region.