Dust is just some dirty stuff that has no real purpose, right? Actually, in space, dust is a crucial ingredient for making stars!
Astronomers often talk about stars being huge balls of gas, but they contain a lot of dust too. Take a look at this striking new picture of a region in space in which new stars are being born, called the Carina Nebula. The orange stuff makes up a big part of the picture – and that’s just dust!
Credit:
ESO/APEX/T. Preibisch et al. (Submillimetre); N. Smith, University of Minnesota/NOAO/AURA/NSF (Optical)