New Stars Destroying NGC 1748

Explanation: NGC 1748 cannot contain all the new stars it has formed. The young stars, the most massive of which are bright blue , emit so much energy they are pushing out and dispersing the gas and dust that comprise this star forming nebula . Within only the past hundred thousand years, these stars have altered the bubble-like shape of the nebula and will likely destroy the nebula over the next few million years. Of particular interest is a bright region surrounded by a pink ring of dust and gas visible on the left of the above recently released picture by the Hubble Space Telescope . The center of this region is being evacuated by the wind of the brightest star in the nebula. A lane of cooler dust connects NGC 1748 to a larger more diffuse nebula seen on the right. NGC 1748 spans about 25 light-years in diameter and can be found in our galactic neighbor: the Large Magellanic Cloud .