00:03This image was recently captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.
00:08And this is just the tip of what astronomers call NGC 2264,
00:12a massive nebula which resides some 2500 light years away from Earth.
00:16And this particular section has been named the Cone Nebula,
00:19part of a massive cosmic star factory which stretches some seven light years from end to end.
00:24Nebulas can come in all shapes and sizes, but this one appears a bit more ominous than others.
00:28That's because while others emit light or reflect the light of nearby stars
00:31in light wavelengths that produce blues, greens, purples and reds,
00:35NGC 2264 is dense with cosmic dust that actually absorbs light,
00:40meaning only infrared and other non-visible wavelength light may escape,
00:44creating this dark, foreboding cone shape, stretching across a star peppered backdrop.
00:48So why is it shaped this way?
00:50Science Alert reports that when stars are produced and reach a particular mass,
00:53they begin to shoot out jets of plasma.
00:54This creates stellar winds that push outward,
00:56moving the nebula's light-eating dust and creating its iconic shape.
