This ghostly apparition is actually an interstellar cloud caught in the process of destruction by strong radiation from a nearby hot star. This haunting picture, snapped by the Hubble telescope, shows a cloud illuminated by light from the bright star Merope. Located in the Pleiades star cluster, the cloud is called IC 349 or Barnard's Merope Nebula.

Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Acknowledgment: George Herbig and Theodore Simon (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii)

• Hubble Heritage Release