Exploration of the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery where stars are born.

In fact, the rich stellar nursery already holds the massive star cluster known as the Cygnus OB2 association.

The harsh ultraviolet glare from these bright stars is slowly evaporating the dusty stellar nursery.

The harsh ultraviolet glare from these bright stars is slowly evaporating the dusty stellar nursery.

These and other stellar nurseries, like the Perseus molecular cloud, can only be probed by radio waves.

Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula.

Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion Nebula, an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away.

Can all this water in the surrounding cloud be transported into the planet-forming nursery around the newborn stars?

Itself composed of many overlapping H II regions, the Tarantula Nebula is the large star forming region at the left.

At only 2 million years old, the nebula is an ideal laboratory for studying young stars and stars that are still forming.

A well-known example, the Cone Nebula within the bright galactic star-forming region NGC 2264, was captured in this close-up view from the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

A well-known example, the Cone Nebula within the bright galactic star-forming region NGC 2264, was captured in this close-up view from the Hubble Space Telescope's newest camera.

Formation of stars and their planets in the Taurus nursery as seen at millimeter wavelengths by the APEX telescope in Chile.

To the right of Orion’s belt is a bright but fuzzy patch that might also look familiar — the stellar nursery known as Orion’s Nebula.

Below Orion's belt a reddish and fuzzy patch that might also look familiar -- the stellar nursery known as Orion's Nebula.