Witch Head Screaming

The Witch Head Nebula, named after the Wizard of Oz's green-faced villain, streams billowy clouds of newborn stars from its "hair," in this recently released view from NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).

Several hundred light-years away, in the constellation Orion the Hunter, the nebula brews up young stars from gas clouds illuminated by starlight.

—Dan Vergano

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Best New Space Pictures: Witch Head, Elephant Trunk, and Eye Of God

Witches, elephants, and gleaming eyes. Oh my! A bewitching brew comes this way in the week's best space pictures.

Published November 3, 2013