These dust lanes are usually seen in young galaxies with active star-forming regions.

Many blue and diffuse objects are visible - most are star-forming regions.

Astronomers are keen to find star-forming regions, hoping to catch the process at various stages to better understand it.

This galaxy, and those like it, must therefore be important star-forming regions.

It is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions of our galaxy.

About 430 light years (130 parsecs) away, it is one of the closest star-forming regions to our solar system.

But throughout them there are a lot of star-forming regions in which the most massive and brightest stars are blue.

The images show the star-forming region in unprecedented clarity.

These galaxies contain little or no interstellar dust; few star-forming regions; and generally older stars.

One example of such a star-forming region is the Orion Nebula.