This image depicts knots of frigid, dense interstellar gas that are generating new stars. These Free-floating Evaporating Gaseous Globules (frEGGs) were first observed in Hubble’s iconic Eagle Nebula photograph from 1995. Due to the darkness of these gaseous masses, they are rarely visible through telescopes. They are visible when newly formed stars ignite, their powerful ultraviolet radiation eating away the surrounding gas and exposing the denser, more resistant frEGGs. These frEGGs are oriented in the direction of Cygnus, the Swan, in the Northern Coalsack Nebula.
Additionally, two big stars are visible in this Hubble view. The left star is a rare big O-type star, one of the most brilliant blue-white stars in the universe. These huge stars are 10,000 to a million times brighter than the Sun and die in a few million years. The correct star is a supergiant B-type star that is even more massive. Additionally, supergiant stars use their fuel rapidly, within a few hundred thousand to tens of millions of years, and die in colossal supernova explosions.
