Technically, this is a bipolar star-forming region called Sharpless 2-106. Not technically, NASA says that it “looks like a soaring, celestial snow angel.” I think those image people at NASA are hitting that rocket fuel punch to heavily, but I like it.
The glowing blue wings of the angel are twin lobes of super-hot gas, stretching away form the central star. The ring of dust orbiting the star, they say, it’s the belt “cinching the expanding nebula into an “hourglass” shape.”
The angel is only 2,000 light-years from us, and it’s several light-years long itself. It’s the home of hundreds of brown dwarfs. The image was taken by the Wide Field Camera 3 of the Hubble Space Telescope in February 2011.
You know, I think it’s time for some Hendrix:
Angel came down from heaven yesterday
She stayed with me just long enough to rescue me
And she told me a story yesterday,
About the sweet love between the moon and the deep blue sea
And then she spread her wings high over me
She said she’s gonna come back tomorrow
And I said, “Fly on my sweet angel,
Fly on through the sky,
Fly on my sweet angel,
Tomorrow I’m gonna be by your side”
[NASA]