Mystic Mountain III (Carina) Size:24" x 16" (61 cm x 41 cm) 2005 by the Cassini spacecraft

2005 by the Cassini spacecraft

where energy from young stars sculpts fantasy-like landscapes in the gas

A fast wind emanating from the hot core rams into the ejected atmosphere

Red signifies hydrogen gas and blue

The Io image

Mystic Mountain III (Carina) Size:24" x 16" (61 cm x 41 cm) 2005 by the Cassini spacecraftThis craggy fantasy mountaintop enshrouded by wispy clouds looks like a bizarre landscape from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" or a Dr. Seuss book, depending on your imagination. The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which is even more dramatic than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three light year tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted