<p>A group of hot young stars, to borrow a phrase from the European Southern Observatory, is seen in infrared from 16 quadrillion miles (26 quadrillion kilometers, or 2,700 light-years) away. Pictured lighting up nearby clouds of dust, the stars are part of the <a id="iirc" title="stellar nursery" href="http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/photos/origins-universe-gallery/">stellar nursery</a> Monoceros R2—itself a part of the <a id="xxvm" title="Monoceros" href="http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/breakingorbit/2010/08/unicorns-roses-and-star-bellso.html">Monoceros</a>, or unicorn, constellation.</p><p>Released Tuesday, the image was made in several exposures by the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (<a id="ii_d" title="VISTA" href="http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/surveytelescopes/vista.html">VISTA</a>) at the ESO's Paranal Observatory. As a survey telescope, VISTA repeatedly scans the universe to find new objects of interest as well as to spot any changes over time in faraway stars.</p><p>(<a id="e4bf" title="Read more about a &quot;super-Earth&quot; found in the Monoceros constellation." href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100205-new-type-planet-corot-7b-io/">Read more about a "super-Earth" found in the Monoceros constellation.</a>)</p>