M45 – Pleiades – Merope

In this image, which combines visible and infrared observations, Hubble has captured the eerie, wispy tendrils of an interstellar cloud being destroyed by one of the brightest stars in M45, Merope. Like fireworks illuminating dark clouds at night, the star’s light is reflecting off the surface of pitch-black clouds of cold gas laced with dust. This produces a reflection nebula.