cloud and central stars are easy to see. They cover an area several times larger than the full Moon.
The bright visible cloud in this image is actually a relatively small island of gas that lies at the edge and just in front of a gigantic region of cold, dark molecular hydrogen and helium. Astronomers believe stars are forming in this region, although their light is hidden by the dark material from which they formed and in which they are still em- bedded.
The dark patches in the nebula are not empty regions but places where cold material blocks some of the radiation. The stars in these areas that seem to shine from behind the nebula really lie in front of it.
