1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 A spectacular new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,000 — one of the largest ever released of a star-forming region — 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:15,000 highlights N11, part of a complex network of gas clouds and star clusters within our neighbouring galaxy, 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,000 the Large Magellanic Cloud. 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:23,000 This region of energetic star formation is one of the most active in the nearby Universe. 6 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,000 This is the Hubblecast! 7 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,000 News and images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. 8 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,000 The Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, contains many bright bubbles of glowing gas. 9 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,000 One of the largest and most spectacular has the name LHA 120-N 11, 10 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,000 from its listing in a catalogue compiled by the American astronomer and astronaut Karl Henize in 1956, 11 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,000 and is informally known as N11. 12 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,000 Close up, the billowing pink clouds of glowing gas 13 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:23,000 make N11 resemble a puffy swirl of fairground candy floss. 14 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:29,000 From further away, its distinctive overall shape led some observers to nickname it the Bean Nebula. 15 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:37,000 The dramatic and colourful features visible in the nebula are the telltale signs of star formation. 16 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,000 N11 is a well-studied region that extends over 1000 light-years. 17 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,000 It is the second largest star-forming region within the LMC 18 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,000 and has produced some of the most massive stars known. 19 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,000 It is the process of star formation that gives N11 its distinctive look. 20 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Three successive generations of stars, 21 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000 each of which formed further away from the centre of the nebula than the last, 22 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,000 have created shells of gas and dust. 23 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:13,000 These shells were blown away from the newborn stars in the turmoil of their energetic birth and early life, 24 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 creating the ring shapes so prominent in this image. 25 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:25,000 Beans are not the only terrestrial shapes to be found in this spectacular high resolution image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. 26 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:30,000 In the upper left is the red bloom of the Rose Nebula, N11A. 27 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,000 Its petals of gas and dust are illuminated from within, 28 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,000 thanks to the radiation from the massive hot stars at its centre. 29 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,000 The Rose Nebula is relatively compact and dense 30 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 and is the site of the most recent burst of star development in the region. 31 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:53,000 Other star clusters abound in N11, including NGC 1761 at the bottom of the image, 32 00:02:53,000 --> 00:03:00,000 which is a group of massive hot young stars busily pouring intense ultraviolet radiation out into space. 33 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Although it is much smaller than our own galaxy, 34 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,000 the LMC is a very vigorous region of star formation. 35 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Studying these stellar nurseries helps astronomers understand a lot more about how stars are born 36 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000 and their ultimate development and lifespan. 37 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,000 Both the LMC and its small companion, the Small Magellanic Cloud, 38 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:27,000 are easily seen with the unaided eye and have always been familiar to people living in the southern hemisphere. 39 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,000 The credit for bringing these galaxies to the attention of Europeans 40 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:36,000 is usually given to Portuguese explorer Fernando de Magellan and his crew, 41 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,000 who viewed it on their 1519 sea voyage. 42 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,000 However, the Persian astronomer Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi 43 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:50,000 and the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci recorded the bright galaxy in 964 and 1503 respectively.