Our #HubbleTopImage features breaking waves in the stellar Lagoon 🌊⁠ ⁠ The Lagoon Nebula, that is! This spectacular object is named after the wide, lagoon-shaped dust lane that crosses the glowing gas of the nebula: a huge region of star birth that stretches across 100 light-years. Clouds of hydrogen gas are slowly collapsing to form new stars, whose bright ultraviolet rays then light up the surrounding gas in a distinctive shade of red 🚨⁠ ⁠ The wispy tendrils and beach-like features of the nebula are not caused by the ebb and flow of tides, but rather by ultraviolet radiation’s ability to erode and disperse the gas and dust into the distinctive shapes that we see.⁠ ⁠ For more information check the link in bio.⁠ ⁠ 📷 NASA, ESA⁠ ⁠ #ESA #Hubble