Starship Asterisk*

An Island of Stars in the Making on the Outskirts of Orion

The delicate nebula NGC 1788, located in a dark and often neglected corner of the Orion constellation, is revealed in a new and finely nuanced image that ESO is releasing today. Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion’s bright stars, the latter’s powerful winds and light have had a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it home to a multitude of infant suns.

bystander wrote:
The Cosmic Bat — NGC 1788 (ESO)

• Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
  How I wonder what you're at!
  Up above the world you fly,
  Like a teatray in the sky.