The unusual celestial phenomenon seen in this stunning picture is known as a Herbig-Haro Object. This specific object is named HH111 and was captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 or WFC3. These picturesque objects are formed under specific conditions where newly formed stars are very active and, in some cases, expel narrow jets of rapidly moving ionized charges. The stream of ionized gas then collides with the clouds of gas and dust around the newly formed stars at insane speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.
Herbig-Haro objects emit a lot of visible light, but they are surrounded by gas and dust, which absorb the light. WFC’s ability to observe at both optical and infrared wavelengths mean that it is able to observe the Herbig-Haro objects as infrared is not affected by the gas and dust.
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Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Nisini