![](\"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/In_bloom_small.jpg\")
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\nThis\u00a0NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope\u00a0Picture of the Week shows bright, colourful pockets of\u00a0star formation blooming like roses in a\u00a0spiral galaxy\u00a0named NGC 972.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nThe orange-pink glow is created as hydrogen gas reacts to the intense light streaming outwards from nearby newborn stars; these bright patches can be seen here amid dark, tangled streams of\u00a0cosmic dust.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nAstronomers look for these telltale signs of star formation when they study galaxies throughout the cosmos, as star formation rates, locations, and histories offer critical clues as to how these colossal collections of gas and dust have evolved over time. New generations of stars contribute to \u2014 and are also, in turn, influenced by \u2014 the broader forces and factors that mould galaxies throughout the Universe, such as gravity, radiation, matter, and dark matter.\n<\/p>\n
\nGerman-British astronomer William Herschel is credited with the discovery of NGC 972 in 1784. Astronomers have since measured its distance, finding it to be just under 70 million light-years.\n<\/p>\n