September 11, 2009 9:49 AM PDT
A "huge pillar of star birth" taking place in the Carina Nebula is seen here in two images from the Wide Field Camera 3, the top one taken in visible light and the bottom one in infrared. In the infrared image, only a faint outline of the cloudlike pillar remains, allowing astronomers to see fledgling stars and other details more clearly.
At the center of each image is an infant star that is shooting out a jet of cosmic material to the left and to the right. The jets are thought to be moving at speeds of up to 850,000 miles an hour.
Photo by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
Caption by Jonathan Skillings
