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FOR RELEASE: 9:00 am (EDT)/15:00 (CEST) April 24, 2003

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC03-13

HUBBLE CAPTURES A PERFECT STORM OF TURBULENT GASES

Resembling the fury of a raging sea, this image actually shows a
bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen gas and small amounts of other
elements such as oxygen and sulfur. The photograph, taken by NASA's 
Hubble Space Telescope, captures a small region within M17, a
hotbed of star formation. M17, also known as the Omega or Swan
Nebula, is located about 5,500 light-years away in the constellation 
Sagittarius. The image is being released to commemorate the
thirteenth anniversary of Hubble's launch on April 24, 1990.

The image was taken May 29-30, 1999, with the Wide Field Planetary 
Camera 2. The colors in the image represent various gases. Red 
represents sulfur; green, hydrogen; and blue, oxygen.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Hester (ASU)

To see and read more about M17, please click on:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2003/13  and
http://hubble.esa.int/hubble/news/index.cfm?oid=32151

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA),
for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of
international cooperation between NASA and the European Space
Agency (ESA).

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