Webb’s October picture looks inside a star-forming cauldron 161,000 light-years away

ESA’s October Webb Picture of the Month shows N159 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, where dense clouds and hot newborn stars sculpt an enormous glowing nursery.

The European Space Agency’s October 22 Picture of the Month takes viewers to N159, a star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 161,000 light-years from Earth. The image spans approximately 230 light-years and captures a dense, turbulent environment.

Hot massive young stars emit ultraviolet light that ionizes surrounding hydrogen gas, causing the bright structure seen in the picture. Meanwhile, cold dense pockets are still collapsing under gravity to create new stars. It is a striking view of formation and destruction happening in the same region.

Open the original image rather than a compressed social-media crop. The official page provides useful context for interpreting color, structure and scale, and makes a good side-by-side with Rubin’s wide-field survey image.

Explore the official high-resolution image and compare its colors and textures with Rubin’s wide-field Seagull Nebula view.