Delve into the Milky Way in this 3.3 gigapixel image of clouds of gas and dust

The European Southern Observatory(ESO) has photographeda region in our galaxy 7,000 light-years awaythat is springing to life with new stars.

The highly detailed, three gigapixelimage shows three nebulas giant, pink clouds of gas and dust lit up by nearby stars.

At the centre of the newly released image is the Eagle Nebula,a region of space made famousbyan earlier photo, dubbed Pillars of Creation,which was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Tothe right is a faint nebula known asSharpless2-54; to the left, the Omega Nebula.

The many newbornstars in the region make the surrounding gas glow;the pink areas are rich in hydrogen gas, the most abundant gasin the universe.

The image was stitched together using dozens of photographs captured by the VLT Survey Telescope at theESO'sParanalObservatory in Chile and is one of the largest ever released by the multi-governmental astronomical organization.

TheESO provided an even better view with thiszoomableimage, whereyoucan delve into the heart of the region.

Stellar nurseries

The gas and dust in the nebulas (the word is Latin for "cloud" or "mist")are the building blocks of stars.

Stars form when gasand dust come together in the coldness of space, drawn by gravity. As this occurs, the material at the centre begins to heat up, becoming what astronomers call aprotostar.

While this part of the Milky Way is visible from Canada during the summer, in the constellationsSerpensand Sagittarius in the southern sky, the nebulas themselves aren't visible without a large telescope.