“Mystic Mountain” in the Carina Nebula – Astronomy Picture of the Week
This close up on the Carina nebula looks like the fantasy "Mystic Mountain" from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". The image was taken on Feb. 1-2, 2010 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Hubble's launch and deployment into an orbit around the Earth.
Astronomy Picture of the Week – Carina Nebula
This is a picture of the Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3372. It is a huge nebula spanning over 300 light years. The dark shapes you can see in this image are actually clouds of molecular gas and dust so thick they appear opaque.