Nebula Carina II Silver Galaxy is the pale blue dot

is the pale blue dot of our planet

The sharpest image ever taken of the large "grand design" spiral galaxy Messier 81

The surrounding region is composed of visible-light observations taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys

ESA and AURA/Calteche

Nebula Carina II Silver Galaxy is the pale blue dotThis 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