This image is released as part of the Early Release Observations from ESA’s Euclid space mission. All data from these initial observations are made public on 23 May 2024 – including a handful of unprecedented new views of the nearby Universe, this being one.
This image is a smaller, close-up cutout from a larger frame featuring Messier 78, a vibrant nursery of star formation enveloped in a shroud of interstellar dust. Messier 78 lies out of the top of the frame. This image shows the densest part of the molecular cloud complex and a region with ongoing star formation.
[Image description: A dark orange filamentary structure seems to enclose stars. Centrally, three bright star-forming regions shine brightly through the orange veil in a traffic-light like formation. The background is dark stippled with stars and galaxies ranging from small bright dots to starry shapes.]