Starry LagoonCondensing dust and gas light up newborn stars in a picture of Messier 8, aka the Lagoon Nebula, released on April 19 by the European Southern Observatory.

About a hundred light-years across, the stellar nursery is among the few such nebulae visible to the naked eye. It boasts a number of huge, hot stars that are sculpting the clouds with their strong radiation.
Image courtesy ESO

Space Photos This Week: Star Lagoon, Iceland Ash

Newborn stars swim in a lagoon, satellites spy Iceland's ash, a webcam catches a fiery meteor, and more in the week's best space pictures.

April 20, 2010