This breathtaking wide-field view brings together two stellar nurseries and the ghost of a dying star. At the bottom right glows the Lagoon Nebula (M8), a massive H II region where new stars form from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Above it lies the Trifid Nebula (M20), easily recognized by its dark dust lanes that divide its bright blue and red emission. Both regions are among the most active star-forming complexes in the Milky Way, lying some 4,000 to 5,000 light-years away in Sagittarius.

Threaded across the scene are faint, delicate filaments belonging to the supernova remnant SNR G007.5-01.7. Unlike the nebulae forging new suns, these wisps are the expanding remains of a massive star that ended its life in a cataclysmic explosion. This juxtaposition of creation and destruction highlights the cosmic cycle of stellar evolution, where the death of one star enriches the interstellar medium to seed the birth of many more.