M17: The Majestic Swan Nebula
What unusual eggs have been laid by this majestic swan ? The star forming region above, known as Swan Nebula , is the home of hot red-glowing gas , dark lanes of dust , bright young stars and -- what are those? Of the few stars visible in the Swan Nebula , several have quite unusual colors and are hypothesized to be very young stars still shrouded by gas from the cloud that formed them . The Swan Nebula is quite large and massive as it contains roughly 1000 times the mass of our Sun . The bright central region is about 15 light years across lies about 5000 light years away toward the constellation of Sagittarius . The distinctive shape causes this region to have several other names, including the Omega Nebula, the Horseshoe Nebula, and the Lobster Nebula.