--- title: Star Wars 7: NASA Spots 'Lightsaber' With Hubble Telescope description: Even NASA can't get away from 'Star Wars' canonical: https://time.com/4153343/star-wars-7-nasa-hubble-force-awakens/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-17T16:43:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:27:52.895Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Finds a Cosmic 'Lightsaber' Far, Far Away og:description: Even NASA can't get away from 'Star Wars' og:url: https://time.com/4153343/star-wars-7-nasa-hubble-force-awakens/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte602084afecb5406/698875dc0a4a221bbe9c78f7/hubble-new-born-star-force-awakens-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: hubble-new-born-star-force-awakens-star-wars og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Finds a Cosmic 'Lightsaber' Far, Far Away twitter:description: Even NASA can't get away from 'Star Wars' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte602084afecb5406/698875dc0a4a221bbe9c78f7/hubble-new-born-star-force-awakens-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Finds a Cosmic 'Lightsaber' Far, Far Away  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 17, 2015 4:43 PM UTC  NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber. This celestial lightsaber is located inside our home galaxy, the Milky Way. It's inside a turbulent birthing ground for new stars known as the Orion B molecular cloud complex, located 1,350 light-years away. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber. This celestial lightsaber is located inside our home galaxy, the Milky Way. It's inside a turbulent birthing ground for new stars known as the Orion B molecular cloud complex, located 1,350 light-years away.NASA/ESA  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 17, 2015 4:43 PM UTC With the release of _The Force Awakens_, it feels like _Star Wars_ has been everywhere this week—and now it’s even popping up in space, NASA says. NASA released video from the Hubble Space Telescope of “what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber” [on Thursday](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/hubble-sees-the-force-awakening-in-a-newborn-star). The photographs show a newborn star, “partially obscured by a dark, Jedi-like cloak of dust” inside the Milky Way. “Science fiction has been an inspiration to generations of scientists and engineers, and the film series _Star Wars_ is no exception,” John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator for the NASA Science Mission directorate, said in the _Star Wars_\-themed [release](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/hubble-sees-the-force-awakening-in-a-newborn-star). “There is no stronger case for the motivational power of real science than the discoveries that come from the Hubble Space Telescope as it unravels the mysteries of the universe.” The Hubble Telescope had to peer 1,350 light-years away to find the new star, located in the Orion B molecular cloud complex. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4153343/star-wars-7-nasa-hubble-force-awakens/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4153343/star-wars-7-nasa-hubble-force-awakens/"},"headline":"NASA Finds a Cosmic 'Lightsaber' Far, Far Away","datePublished":"2015-12-17T16:43:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:27:52.895Z","description":"Even NASA can't get away from Star Wars","url":"https://time.com/4153343/star-wars-7-nasa-hubble-force-awakens/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte602084afecb5406/698875dc0a4a221bbe9c78f7/hubble-new-born-star-force-awakens-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte602084afecb5406/698875dc0a4a221bbe9c78f7/hubble-new-born-star-force-awakens-star-wars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"hubble-new-born-star-force-awakens-star-wars","caption":"NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber. 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