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ius. The turbulent gases in this photo of Gaseous Nebula in the Milky Way Galaxy shows roughly 1.9.arcred

Perfect storm' rages in space
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
(Filed: 26/04/2003)

Astronomers have witnessed a "perfect storm" of turbulent gases raging in deep
space.
This image, taken by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope, shows a bubbly ocean of
glowing hydrogen gas and small amounts of other elements such as oxygen and
sulphur.
     
     Perfect storm: turbulent gases and radiation in deep space
The photograph captures a small region within M17, a hotbed of star formation.
M17, which is also known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, is located about 5,500
light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.

The image was released to commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of Hubble's
launch in April 1990.

About three light-years across, the image is coloured to represent elements: red
is sulphur, green is hydrogen and blue is oxygen.

The wave-like patterns of gas have been sculpted and illuminated by a torrent of
ultraviolet radiation from young, massive stars, which lie outside the picture
to the upper left. The glow of these patterns accentuates the three-dimensional
structure of the gases.

The ultraviolet radiation is carving and heating the surfaces of cold hydrogen
gas clouds.

The warmed surfaces glow orange and red in this photograph.

The intense heat and pressure cause some material to stream away from those
surfaces, creating the glowing veil of even hotter greenish gas that masks
background structures.

The pressure on the tips of the waves may trigger new star formation within
them.

PHOTO: The photo, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, captures a small region within M17, a hotbed of star formation M17, also known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, is located about 5,500 light-years (1690 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The turbulent gases in this photo of Gaseous Nebula in the Milky Way Galaxy shows roughly 1.9.arcred