Maelstrom of Star Birth

A color panorama of the center of the Orion Nebula-a mosaic of 15 images-shows a churning star factory set within a maelstrom of flowing, luminescent gas. The vista includes at least 153 glowing disks that are believed to be embryonic solar systems. The processes here may be similar to those that gave birth to our sun and its planets, including Earth, some 4.5 billion years ago. (The nebula is in the middle of the "sword" of the constellation Orion the Hunter, visible in the winter sky here.

Photo by C.R. O'Dell of Rice University and NASA.