We are part of a vast universe.

     What is our place in this amazing cosmos?

           What is your place in this world?

                     The sands of time may be limited!

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Reality divided by reason always leaves a reminder.  After everything has been said about the universe, after the entire world has been transformed on the basis of scientific knowledge into a hierarchical structure of ever-widening systems, we are still invariably left with a profound sense of mystery.

         - Haridas Chaudhur

Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester (ASU)
  

Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, these fantastic, undulating shapes lie within the stellar nursery known as M17, the Omega Nebula, some 5,500 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation Sagittarius. The lumpy features in the dense cold gas and dust are illuminated by stars off the upper left of the image and may themselves represent sites of future star formation. Colors in the fog of surrounding hotter material indicate M17's chemical make up. The predominately green glow corresponds to abundant hydrogen, with trace sulfur and oxygen atoms contributing red and blue hues. The picture spans about 3 light-years and was released in the thirteenth year of the Hubble Space Telescope's cosmic voyage of exploration.