SPACE, SPACE: This NASA Spitzer Space Telescope image obtained 01 November, 2004 shows a “monster” lurking behind a blanket of cosmic dust unveiled in this nebula called “DR 6” residing in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, home to a cluster of about 10 massive newborn stars, ranging in size from 10 to 20 times the mass of our Sun. The nebular “eyes” and “mouth” (C) were carved out by intense heat and winds, which shoot outward from the stars (located in the central bar or “nose”). The green material remaining in the eyes and mouth is comprised of gas, while the red regions and tendrils beyond make up the dusty cloud that originally gave birth to the young stars. “DR 6” is located 3,900 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The distance from one end of its central bar to the other is the about 3.5 light-years, or about the same distance from our Sun to its nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri. AFP PHOTO/HO/NASA (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)
