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Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope 2000 Calendar

N 81 is a glowing nebula of gas, dust, and stars located some 200,000 light years away in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy of the Milky Way galaxy visible in the skies of the Southern Hemisphere. The nebula is a site of massive star formation, and more than 50 individual stars can be identified within the core of the nebula, which spans only 10 light years in diameter. The orange glow of the nebula is produced as ultraviolet light from the young, hot, massive stars is absorbed by the gas and re-radiated at visible wavelengths.