NGC 604: Giant Stellar Nursery Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Credit: H. Yang (UIUC), HST, NASA Scattered within this cavernous nebula, cataloged as NGC 604, are over 200 newly formed hot, massive, stars. At 1,500 light-years across, this expansive cloud of interstellar gas and dust is effectively a giant stellar nursery located some three million light-years distant in the spiral galaxy, M33. The newborn stars irradiate the gas with energetic ultraviolet light stripping electrons from atoms and producing a characteristic nebular glow. The details of the nebula's structure hold clues to the mysteries of star formation and galaxy evolution.
spookz, Sorry, missed your question earlier. No it will not look the same. This particular photo is a composite of two other photos used to bring out desired emission bands so that they are more easily studied. HST has been able to resolve in far greater detail this structure. Earlier photos in B&W from Palamour show very little detail of NGC604.
