Template:POTD protected/2007-06-24

NGC 602 is a young, bright open cluster of stars located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way. Radiation and shock waves from the star cluster have pushed away much of the lighter surrounding gas and dust that compose the N90 nebula, and this in turn has triggered new star formation in the ridges (or "elephant trunks") of the nebula. These even younger stars are still shrouded in dust but are visible to the Spitzer Space Telescope at infrared wavelengths. A number of other, more distant galaxies appear in the background of the image.

Photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope