Stars Forming in a Cosmic Reef Puzzle

Two clouds converting gas into stars, NGC 2014 and NGC 2020, lie in a neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud. Together called the Cosmic Reef, these two nebulae are 163,000 light-years away and will slowly produce bright clusters of young suns. The bluish nebula, NGC 2020, contains a super-hot sun called a Wolf-Rayet Star. 

This stunning image was released to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope's 30 years of viewing the wonders of space.

This richly colored, high-resolution image includes 500 pieces and measures 15" x 21" upon completion.  Included is a bonus poster for reference during assembly.

Created exclusively for Astronomy magazine by Masterpieces, Inc.

Photo: NASA, ESA, and STScl