Witness the Birth of a Star

February 10, 2016 12:01 AM EST

Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Its name is HD 97300 and it’s one of the youngest—but also the most massive and brightest—stars in the Chamaeleon Complex, a cloudy incubator of stars 500 light-years away.

In this new photograph, released on Feb. 10 by the European Southern Observatory and captured by the agency’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, the star illuminates the nebula known as IC 2631, a region that harbors numerous newborn and still-forming stars, says the space agency.

TIME Picks the Best Space Photos of 2015

Pluto photo from four images from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) combined with color data from the Ralph instrument — This photo of Pluto was made during the New Horizons spacecraft's historic flyby of the dwarf planet in July 2015. New Horizons is now sailing into the Kuiper Belt for a rendezvous with another small world. NASA/Reuters

This nebula named "Thor's Helmet" is powered by a central "Wolf Rayet" star whose explosive tantrums blow huge bubbles of gas and make them glow like neon. This star is easily 20 times the mass of the Sun and located 15,000 light years away. Eventually the star's instability will lead it to explode as a supernova. The photo was captured at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter in Arizona and released on Jan. 3, 2015.Adam Block—Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Space Station Flies Over Super Typhoon Maysak: Typhoon Maysak strengthened into a super typhoon on March 31, reaching Category 5 hurricane status on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. NASA Astronaut Terry Virts captured this image while flying over the weather system on board the International Space Station. Commenting on the storm, Virts wrote, "The eye of #Maysak typhoon really stands out early in the morning with the shadow being cast deep into the vortex." His ESA crewmate on station also viewed the storm and wrote, "Commands respect even from #space: we just flew over typhoon #Maysak." — Super Typhoon Maysak, as seen from aboard the International Space Station on March 31, 2015. NASA Astronaut Terry Virts captured this image and tweeted "The eye of #Maysak typhoon really stands out early in the morning with the shadow being cast deep into the vortex." His ESA crewmate on station also viewed the storm and wrote, "Commands respect even from #space..."Terry Virts—NASA

The total solar eclipse at Svalbard, Norway, on March 20, 2015. A partial solar eclipse was seen in Europe, northern and eastern Asia and northern and western Africa.Olav Jon Nesvold—EPA

Pluto's haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn’s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible.More: New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on PlutoImage Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRILast Updated: Oct. 8, 2015Editor: Sarah Loff — Pluto's haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons spacecraft on Oct. 8, 2015 after it passed the dwarf planet. The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar to that seen at Saturn’s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles called tholins.NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captures the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away on July 6, 2015. NASA

Orbital Sciences Antares Launch — The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with a Cygnus spacecraft onboard, suffered a catastrophic explosion moments after launch on Oct. 28, 2014, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Cygnus spacecraft was filled with supplies slated for the International Space Station. The never before seen photographs were released by NASA this year. Joel Kowsky—NASA

The stark transition between radiating sand dunes and an old volcanic flow on the surface of Earth was captured by astronaut Kjell Lindgren aboard the International Space Station, on Dec. 5 2015.Kjell Lindgren—NASA

The Lagoon Nebula, a bright cloud of dust and gas 4,000 light years away and 40 light years across, glows brilliantly due to hot energetic young stars forming within. It can even be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies away from city lights. The photo was captured at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter in Arizona and released on July 15, 2015.Adam Block—Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Circinus X-1 is an X-ray binary star known for its erratic variability can be seen in this photo released on June 23, 2015. Within the system, a dense neutron star, the collapsed remnant of a supernova explosion, orbits with a more ordinary stellar companion Circinus X-1 30,700 light-years away.X-ray - NASA/CXC/Univ. Wisconsin-Madison/S.Heinz et al, Optical - DSS

The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427 and the nebula M1-67 was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, released on Aug. 21, 2015. The twin formation is located in the constellation of Sagittarius, 15,000 light-years away. The star shines brightly at the very center of the image. Surrounding it are hot clumps of gas being ejected into space at over 93,000 mph. ESA/Hubble/NASA

A meteor from the Perseid Meteor shower can be seen in the upper left corner in this long exposure image taken as a wildfire burned in Lake and Napa Counties near the town of Clearlake, Calif. on Aug. 12, 2015.Stuart Palley—Zuma Press

The once in a generation supermoon total lunar eclipse viewed from Glastonbury, England, on Sept. 28, 2015. Three decades had passed since the last time Earth was witness to the triple crown of lunar events — a full moon, a lunar eclipse, and a lunar perigee all at the same time.Matt Cardy—Getty Images

This composite image made from five frames shows the International Space Station, with a crew of nine onboard, in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles per second, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015, Shenandoah National Park, Front Royal, VA. Onboard are; NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren: Russian Cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko, Oleg Kononenko, Sergey Volkov, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, Danish Astronaut Andreas Mogensen, and Kazakhstan Cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) — This composite image made from five frames shows the International Space Station, with a crew of nine onboard, in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles per second, on Sept. 6, 2015.Bill Ingalls—NASA

The Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA, Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Elena Serova of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, March 12, 2015. NASA Astronaut Wilmore, Russian Cosmonauts Samokutyaev and Serova are returning after almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 41 and 42 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) — A Soyuz spacecraft is seen as it returns home with NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Roscosmos, near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on March 12, 2015. Bill Ingalls—NASA

Astronaut Scott Kelly, re-entering the International Space Station after his spacewalk on Oct. 29, 2015. NASA

Kjell Lindgren captures on last stunning view of the milkway before his return to Earth on Dec. 10, 2015. — Astronaut, Kjell Lindgren captures one last stunning view of the Milky Way before his return to Earth on Dec. 10, 2015. Kjell Lindgren—NASA

A handout photo of the lift off of a 'Vega' rocket carrying the European Space Agency ESA's 'LISA Pathfinder' spacecraft, in Kourou, French Guiana on Dec. 3 2015. — A Vega rocket lifts off from French Guiana on Dec. 3 2015, carrying the European Space Agency's LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, which will test methods for detecting gravity waves.JM Guillon—CNES/EPA

A perigee full moon, or supermoon, is seen above the Washington Monument during a total lunar eclipse on Sunday, September 27, 2015, in Washington, DC. The combination of a supermoon and total lunar eclipse last occurred in 1982 and will not happen again until 2033. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) — The supermoon, which occurs when the moon is full, with the closest approach to Earth on its elliptical orbit, above the Washington Monument on Sept. 27 2015. Making the phenomenon even more dramatic: a total lunar eclipse also occurred that evening. Aubrey Gemignani—NASA

Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, captured by the New Horizons spacecraft on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 290,000 miles.NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/EPA

The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from European Space Agency (ESA) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on June 11, 2015. — A Soyuz spacecraft returning from the International Space Station lands in Kazakhstan on June 11, 2015, with NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency aboard. The burst of fire and smoke at the point of impact comes from the braking rockets the Soyuz fires to ease the landing.Bill Ingalls—NASA

Volunteers using the web-based Milky Way Project brought star-forming features nicknamed "yellowballs" to the attention of researchers, who later showed that they are a phase of massive star formation. The yellow balls -- which are several hundred to thousands times the size of our solar system -- are pictured here in the center of this image of the W33 Star forming region taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, released on Jan. 27, 2015.NASA/JPL/Caltech

New Horizons scientists made this false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions. The image data were collected by the spacecraft’s Ralph/MVIC color camera on July 14 at 11:11 AM UTC, from a range of 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers). This image was presented by Will Grundy of the New Horizons’ surface composition team on Nov. 9 at the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRILast Updated: Nov. 12, 2015Editor: Tricia Talbert — New Horizons scientists made this false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis to highlight the many subtle color differences among Pluto's different regions. The picture was taken from a distance of 22,000 miles on July 14, 2015. NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

The Twin Jet Nebula, or PN M2-9, is a striking example of a bipolar planetary nebula, formed when the central object is not a single star, but a binary system. An earlier image of the Twin Jet Nebula using data gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was released in 1997. This newer version released on Aug. 26, 2015 incorporates more recent observations from the telescope’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.ESA/Hubble/NASA

The brilliant palette of Africa captured by astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station on July 22, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA

Aurora Borealis seen over the Brecon Beacons, Wales, Britain - 17 Mar 2015 — Aurora Borealis seen over the Brecon Beacons, Wales, England on Mar. 17, 2015. Increased solar activity has meant that the northern lights were viewable over many areas of the UK, reaching as far south as South Wales.Polly Thomas/Rex/REX USA

Blood moon over Pike Peak Colorado Springs — The blood moon lunar eclipse sets behind Pikes Peak on April 4, 2015 in Colorado Springs. The reddish hue is the result of Earth moving between the sun and the moon and Earth's atmosphere absorbing blue wavelengths and allowing red ones to pass through.John Leyba—Denver Post/ Getty Images

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location in Gale Crater.This was the first sunset observed in color by Curiosity. The image comes from the left-eye camera of the rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam). The color has been calibrated and white-balanced to remove camera artifacts. Mastcam sees color very similarly to what human eyes see, although it is actually a little less sensitive to blue than people are.Dust in the Martian atmosphere has fine particles that permit blue light to penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently than longer-wavelength colors. That causes the blue colors in the mixed light coming from the sun to stay closer to sun's part of the sky, compared to the wider scattering of yellow and red colors. The effect is most pronounced near sunset, when light from the sun passes through a longer path in the atmosphere than it does at mid-day.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. — NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day, or sol, on April 15, 2015, from the rover's location in Gale Crater. This was the first sunset observed in color by Curiosity. NASA/JPL—Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&M Univ.

The rippled surface of the first Martian sand dune ever studied up close can been seen is this photo taken on Nov. 27, 2015 by NASA Mars Rover Curiosity. The dunes close to Curiosity's current location are part of "Bagnold Dunes," a band along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp inside the Gale Crater. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/REX Shutterstock

A 3-D computer model (a digital terrain map) of Hale Crater on Mars based on stereo information from two HiRISE observations showing dark, narrow streaks on the Martian slopes that are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on contemporary Mars was released on Sept. 28, 2015. NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Astronaut Scott Kelly captured this image of the Bahamas from the International Space Station on July 19, 2015.Scott Kelly—NASA

An image of the wildfires in the Northwest taken from the International Space Station released on Aug. 17, 2015.Kjell Lindgren—NASA

Sand dunes sculpted by wind, captured by astronaut Kjell Lindgren, aboard the International Space Station on Dec. 8 2015. Kjell Lindgren—NASA

This photo shows the new mountain range discovered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 14, 2015 on Pluto, in a heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/ Southwest Research Institute

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this parting view showing the rough and icy crescent of Saturn's moon Dione following the spacecraft's last close flyby of the moon on Aug. 17, 2015. Five visible light, narrow-angle camera images were combined to create this mosaic view. The view was acquired at distances ranging from approximately 37,000 miles to 47,000 miles from Dione and at a sun-Dione-spacecraft angle of 145 degrees. — NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this parting view showing the rough and icy crescent of Saturn's moon Dione following the spacecraft's last close flyby on Aug. 17, 2015. The image was captured from a distance of 37,000 to 47,000 miles.NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

Comet 67P, photographed by the Rosetta Orbiter from a distance of 79 miles on Nov. 22, 2015.ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM

Saturn's icy moon Enceladus and a small stretch of Saturn's rings, as seen by the Cassini spacecraft on July 29, 2015. Cassini Imaging Team/ SSI/JPL/ESA/NASA

This image released on April 6, 2015, shows the centre of the globular cluster Messier 22, also known as M22, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Globular clusters are spherical collections of densely packed stars, relics of the early years of the Universe, with ages of typically 12 to 13 billion years. ESA/Hubble/NASA

New view of the Pillars of Creation — infrared — The Hubble Space Telescope revisits one of its most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. This image shows the formation as seen in infrared light, which gives the familiar pillars an unfamiliar look. The image was released in January 2015. NASA/ESA/Hubble Space Telescope

Moonlight over Italy, as captured by astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 23, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA

New view of the Pillars of Creation — visible — Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have assembled a bigger and sharper photograph of the iconic Eagle Nebula's "Pillars of Creation," rereleased in January 2015.NASA/ESA/Hubble and the Hubble

A Total Lunar Eclipse Spawns Blood Supermoon — The supermoon rises behind Glastonbury Tor on Sept. 27, 2015 in Glastonbury, England. A supermoon occurs when the moon is both full and at the closest approach it makes to Earth during its orbit. Matt Cardy—Getty Images

Three of Saturn’s moons (Titan, Mimas, and Rhea) captured in a single photo — This photograph, taken by the Cassini spacecraft on March 25, 2015 shows the moons Titan (Saturn’s largest moon), Mimas, and Rhea. Titan appears out of focus in the shot because it’s the only natural satellite that’s currently known to have its own dense atmosphere — clouds hover over the surface, and the atmosphere refracts light and causes the crescent to extend further around the moon than the two other atmosphere-less moons in the photo.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Spiral galaxies are delicate and subtle things. Even when captured in large telescopes- more striking than their beauty is the concept that they are so large and so far away. NGC 488 in particular is around 90 MILLION light years away and certainly looks better than its name might suggest. — Spiral galaxies are delicate and subtle things. This one, NGC 488, is 90 million light years away. The photo was captured at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter in Arizona and released on Oct. 25, 2015. Adam Block—Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

This high-resolution image captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). Pluto’s surface shows a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. The bright expanse is the western lobe of the “heart,” informally known as Tombaugh Regio. The lobe, informally called Sputnik Planum, has been found to be rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices.Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRIView Image FeatureLast Updated: Oct. 15, 2015Editor: Tricia Talbert — This high-resolution image of Pluto was captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft and released on Oct. 15, 2015. The bright expanse is the western lobe of the heart-shaped formation informally known as Tombaugh Regio. NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

A brilliant aurora as seen from the International Space Station on June 27, 2015.Scott Kelly—NASA

Brief Outburst The Sun blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament over a three-hour period (Feb. 24, 2015). While some of the strands fell back into the Sun, a substantial part raced into space in a bright cloud of particles (as observed by the SOHO spacecraft). The activity was captured in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Because this occurred way over near the edge of the Sun, it was unlikely to have any effect on Earth.https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/16760026566/ — The Sun blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament over a three-hour period on Feb. 24, 2015. While some of the strands fell back into the Sun, a substantial part raced into space in a bright cloud of particles, as observed by the SOHO spacecraft.NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

Astronaut Scott Kelly captures this striking view of earth on Asteroid Day on June 30, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA

There seems to be more green in the #African desert lately. This is a good thing. #YearInSpace — In a picture taken from the International Space Station, the African desert shows some unfamiliar greening on June 14, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA

An image captured on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2015, from the International Space Station by astronaut Scott Kelly, who described what he saw as "ghostly and dark but beautiful too." Scott Kelly—NASA

The artificial Palm and World Islands off the coast of Dubai as photographed by astronaut Kjell Lindgren aboard the International Space Station on Nov. 20, 2015.Kjell Lindgren—NASA

This image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in May 2015 shows Acidalia Planitia, a location on the red planet that was recreated in the film "The Martian." Nasa/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/PA Wire

The Saturnian moon Dione hangs in front of Saturn and its icy rings in this view, captured during the Cassini spacecraft's final close flyby of the icy moon on Aug. 17, 2015. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

The Saturnian moon Tethys, dwarfed by Saturn itself and its rings, appears as an elegant crescent in this image taken by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft on on Aug. 18, 2015.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

The moon shines during the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs. Malaga CF at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Aug. 29, 2015.Josep Lago—AFP/Getty Images

Young stars tend to look brighter than their more mature selves as they “have not yet started to fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores,” says the agency. In this case, the star is so hot that it has ionized the nebulae’s gas, making it emit light of its own—in this case, a mesmerizing ocean blue.

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