A long jet of material has burst out of a dark cloud of gas and dust that hides a newly formed star. The blue, fan-shaped region on the left is the edge of a cavity illuminated by the fledgling star. A massive clump of jet material collides with upstream gas, creating the white bow-shaped shock wave on the right.
Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Hartigan (Rice University), and G. Bacon (STScI)
Publication: August 31, 2011