Nebula Angel (Sharpless 2-106)

Officially, and oh so boringly named Sharpless 2-106, or S106 for short, this nebula resembles a soaring angel with glorious outstretched wings. The "wings" of the nebula show the extreme contrast of heat & motion against the intense cold of space as the very hot, blue-glowing gas, expands outward from the central star. A disk of dust and gas orbiting the star acts like a strap, squeezing the expanding nebula into an "hourglass" shape.

This is yet another image in our gallery where you can pick out your own shapes, just like we do in our clouds here on mother Earth. In addition to the blue wings and the red/orange robe, some of us can see the angel's tilted back head too.