April 24, 2007—The wonders of astronomy meet the drama of modern art in this latest image from the Hubble Space Telescope.

The color-enhanced image, taken of the distant Carina Nebula, depicts the birth pangs of a dozen stars, as explosions send waves of superheated gases billowing through the southern constellation Carina.

The raucous stellar nursery makes a particularly fitting subject—scientists released the image today in honor of Hubble's anniversary, marking 17 years since the orbiting telescope was borne into space on the shuttle Discovery.

This painterly picture brings the total number of images that Hubble has taken since 1990 to nearly 500,000.