5 mesmerising pictures of Hubble's nebulae captured by NASA

The Orion Nebula is a picture book of star formation, from the massive, young stars shaping the nebula to the pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars.

The star V830 Orionis shines on the cloud of material left over from its formation, here seen as the NGC 1999 reflection nebula.

The Helix Nebula is an example of a planetary nebula. Though it looks like a bubble or eye from Earth's point of view, the Helix is actually a trillion-mile-long tunnel of glowing gases. In its center lies a white dwarf star.

This Hubble mosaic is the highest resolution image ever made of the entire Crab Nebula, which is located 6,500 light-years away.

These opaque, dark knots of gas and dust called "Bok globules" are absorbing light in the center of the nearby emission nebula and star-forming region, NGC 281. Bok globules may form stars, or may eventually dissipate.