This glowing cloud of gas is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way visible from the Southern Hemisphere. According to astronomers, the cluster is so old that many stars have already lived their hydrogen-burning lives and exploded as supernovae. The high-speed outflow of gas generated shock waves in the surrounding nebula, creating the ribbonlike structures. Hodge 301 still has a few red supergiant stars left, poised to go supernova soon. The vista shows sand dunes in the Nili Patera region of Syrtis Major.
Illumination is from the upper left.
Inc. Click on image for larger view. This limited the amount of data that could be taken. Engineers had been concerned about the antenna deployment because of structural damage that occurred to the spacecraft's solar arrays when they snapped open. To safeguard against a similar fate for the antenna, engineers kept it stowed for the first three weeks of mapping. The steerable antenna can now be directed to Earth continuously.