<p><strong>A dark strip of light-absorbing dust bisects a star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud <a href="http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/galaxies-article/">galaxy</a>—an image that took top prize in European Space Agency (ESA)'s <a href="http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/hiddentreasures/">Hubble Hidden Treasures</a> contest. </strong></p> <p>Josh Lake, a Connecticut-based astronomy and physics teacher who digitally processed the award-winning picture, "focused on this spot because of the residual likeness of a seahorse or dragon, but of course it's light-years across," he said.</p> <p>The ESA received nearly 3,000 submissions for the contest, which opened to the public in March and concluded at the end of May. The results were published in August.</p> <p>The rules? Search the <a href="http://hubblesite.org/">Hubble Space Telescope</a>'s image archive—a database so huge not even scientists know exactly how much content it contains—and select favorite frames.</p> <p>Then, using image-processing software, create a color image to dazzle a team of judges—and the public.</p> <p>"We thought it might be nice to invite the public in to have a look for themselves, and to pair this with an astronomical image-processing competition," said contest administrator Oli Usher.</p> <p>Lake's image won both the judges' and the public's vote.</p> <p>(See <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/photogalleries/100424-hubble-telescope-20th-anniversary-pictures/">"Hubble Telescope at 20: NASA Astronomers' Top Photos."</a>)</p> <p><em>—Catherine Zuckerman</em></p>