14 DAY TRIAL // Using data from the now-defunct Herschel Space Observatory, officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) have just compiled this amazing new image of massive gas and dust clouds in the NGC 7538 stellar nursery. The cosmic formation lies right next to the more famous Bubble Nebula.
The object is located relatively close to Earth, at a distance of just 9,100 light-years. It lies in the constellation of Cepheus, and its main feature is the largest protostar ever discovered. This star has yet to finish its formation process, but it is already nearly 300 times the size of our solar system.
Another thing that separates NGC 7538 from other stellar nurseries is the fact that it lies so close to our planet, allowing astronomers a rare opportunity to track stellar formation processes in great detail. Herschel could see this nebula because its clouds contain large amounts of dust, to which this observatory was very sensitive.
This image was collected at 70 microns (coded in blue here), 160 microns (green), and 250 microns (red) in the far-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Experts estimate the mass of the nebula at around 400,000 Suns, and the number of actual stars the object will produce at several hundreds. However, this process will most likely take millions of years.