NASA's spectacular image of Lagoon Nebula goes viral

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is responsible for most of the information we have about space and several wonderful things in the galaxy. The agency, which is regulated by the federal government in the United States, has often released images from space that have not only left people amused but also contributed towards enhancing their knowledge of the outer space. Now, NASA has released a stunning visual of the Lagoon Nebula.

Lagoon Nebula happens to be a massive interstellar cloud present in the constellation Sagittarius. Discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Hodierna around 1654, it is often referred to as an emission nebula.

The aforementioned image has been captured by the powerful Hubble Space Telescope in NASA. While most people would appreciate the beauty of this image, it holds a lot of significance for the scientific community. It is being said that this visual will help scientists in unearthing a lot of important information about the universe and its formation. This image, as one could guess, would be evaluated very differently by the common man and the scientists.


The central portion of the image features a humungous star that is said to be 200,000 times brighter than the sun. Scientists have found out that this particular star, which has been titled Herschel 36, releases strong ultraviolet radiation and winds that are as powerful as a hurricane. The Lagoon Nebula, both visually and on paper, resembles a landscape that one reads about it in fantasy novels or gets to witness in movies.

The Hubble Space Telescope has managed to capture the 3D structure of the bubble. Dust, emanating from the different corners of the star, offers a glimpse of the bright, blue-colored oxygen gas. Around the gas, you can see the blown-out cavity. The dark purple portions in the image exemplify a well-balanced combination of nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen.