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> Region of star formation LH 95 in the LMC
Region of star formation LH 95 in the LMC
author: Nasa/ESA/Hubble Heritage team/Novapix
reference: a-neb81-00001
Image Size 300 DPI: 32 * 32 cm
Known as LH 95, this is just one of the hundreds of star-forming systems, called associations, located in the LMC (Large Magellanic Cloud) some 160,000 light-years distant. Earlier ground-based observations of such systems had only allowed astronomers to study the bright blue giant stars present in these regions. With Hubble's resolution, the low-mass stars can now be analyzed, which will allow for a more accurate calculation of their ages and masses. The largest stars within LH 95 - those with at least three times the mass of the Sun - generate strong stellar winds and high levels of ultraviolet radiation that heat the surrounding interstellar gas. The result is a bluish nebula of glowing hydrogen that continues to expand out into the molecular cloud that originally collapsed to form these massive stars. Some dense parts of this star-forming region are intact despite the stellar winds, and can still be seen as dark dusty filaments in the picture. Such dust lanes absorb parts of the blue light from the stars behind them, making them appear redder. Other parts of the molecular cloud have already contracted to turn into glowing groups of infant stars, the fainter of which have a high tendency to cluster. This deep Hubble image also reveals several large spiral and distant galaxies decorating the background of LH 95.
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