Glowing reddish gas is speckled with bright-white stars. In the foreground is a dark, vertically extended cloud of gas and dust that blocks the light of objects behind it. The largest part of the dark cloud (Bok Globule) extends from image center to bottom. Tenuous clouds extend vertically above the main globule toward the image top.

Hubble Images Bok Globules

These opaque, dark knots of gas and dust called "Bok globules" are absorbing light in the center of the nearby emission nebula and star-forming region, NGC 281. Bok globules may form stars, or may eventually dissipate.

Credits: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: P. McCullough (STScI)
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Image CreditNASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: P. McCullough (STScI)
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