* Astronomy

Pillars of cold gas and dark dust are seen in the centre of the star forming region of Sharpless 171. An open cluster of stars is forming there from the gas in cold molecular clouds.
As energetic light emitted by young massive stars boils away the opaque dust, the region fragments and picturesque pillars of the remnant gas and dust form and slowly dissipate.
The light also illuminates the surrounding hydrogen gas, and energises it to glow as a red emission nebula.


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The active central region incorporates NGC 7822 and the active region Cederblad 214, much of which is imaged above. The area above spans about 20 light years, and lies about 3,000 light years away, in the constellation of Cepheus (the King of Ethiopia).
Credit: Nicolas Outters (Observatoire d'Orange)