Bubble Nebula: Spanning 7 light-years across, and about one-and-a-half times the distance from our sun to its nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri, the Bubble Nebula resides 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.

Cosmic Reef: This Hubble image shows how young, energetic, massive stars illuminate and sculpt their birthplace. The giant red nebula (NGC 2014) and its smaller blue neighbor (NGC 2020) are part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, 163,000 light-years away.

Horsehead Nebula: What looks like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery over a century ago.

Lagoon Nebula: Located about 4000 light-years away, the Lagoon Nebula is an incredible 55 light-years wide and 20 light-years tall. This stunning nebula was first catalogued by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna in 1654.

Helix Nebula: This a planetary nebula, which is formed when a star like the Sun runs out of fuel, expands and its outer layers puff off, and then the core of the star shrinks.

Orion Nebula: Believed to be the cosmic fire of creation by the Maya of Mesoamerica, Messier 42 blazes brightly in the constellation Orion. This stellar nursery, is only 1,500 light-years away, making it the closest large star-forming region to Earth.

Pillars of Creation: The iconic Pillars of Creation, revealing a sharper and wider view of the structures in this visible-light image. The towering pillars are about 5 light-years tall.