NASA's Hubble shares image of ‘cosmic reef’ revealing galaxies shaped like an alien ocean

Wolf-Rayet Nebula and Star Forming Region (Image: NASA)

Looking at this image feels like peering into a dream. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a scene that looks like an alien ocean. NASA shared it in 2020 to celebrate three decades of space discovery.

Giant Red and Blue Nebulas in the Magellanic Cloud

The picture shows a giant red nebula and a smaller blue neighbour. Both belong to a star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This galaxy orbits the Milky Way and is 163,000 light years away. Astronomers call the image the Cosmic Reef because the shapes resemble coral.

At the heart of the red nebula, called NGC 2014, lie bright young stars. Each is 10 to 20 times heavier than our Sun. Their ultraviolet light heats the surrounding dense gas. The stars also release strong winds of charged particles. These winds blow away lighter gas, creating bubble-like shapes. The right side of the nebula shows coral-like arcs. On the left, gas and dust pile up into ridges lit by starlight. The blue areas glow with oxygen heated to 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooler red gas shows hydrogen and nitrogen.

The blue nebula, NGC 2020, sits at the lower left of the image. It was formed by a single massive star 200,000 times brighter than our Sun. The star expelled gas in violent eruptions, shedding its outer layers over time.

Celebrating Hubble’s 30-Year Legacy

The image was taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. Since its launch in April 1990, Hubble has made over 1.4 million observations. It has studied nearly 47,000 celestial objects, producing more than 900,000 images.

The telescope has travelled around Earth more than 175,000 times, covering 4.4 billion miles. Its work has generated 164 terabytes of data, freely available to scientists. Research based on its data has led to more than 17,000 scientific papers.

Even after 30 years, Hubble continues to bring distant worlds closer. This Cosmic Reef is a reminder of how beauty and science can share the same sky.