Watch subtle changes in these morphing images of the universe.
Photo captions by Tim Appenzeller
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A Dark Cloud's Lining Images by NASA/JPL/Caltech/William Reach, Sirtif Science Center
The Elephant's Trunk Nebula, 2,450 light-years away, is a cloud of cool gas and dust so dense it is practically black in a visible-light image. But Spitzer revealed bright young stars within the cloud. Intense radiation from a nearby giant star, outside the image, has swept the cloud into a comet shape. By compressing the gas, the radiation pressure has triggered star formation along the cloud's southern rim.
