Deep Space Eye Candy From the European Southern Observatory

“The Realm of Buried Giants”
Credit: ESO

From the European Southern Observatory:

“In this huge new image clouds of crimson gas are illuminated by rare, massive stars that have only recently ignited and are still buried deep in thick dust clouds. These scorching-hot, very young stars are only fleeting characters on the cosmic stage and their origins remain mysterious. The vast nebula where these giants were born, along with its rich and fascinating surroundings, are captured here in fine detail by ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.”

The complete story with full sized images is here.