This is part of the Eagle Nebula , or M16, and in each of the strands of gas coming off the main cloud we see stars forming. The gas falls into the centre of the star until the star become hot enough for the nuclear reactions which power it to begin. The cloud around it evaporates and the light of the star shines out into space. All the stars which we see in our night sky are part of our galaxy called the Milky Way . A galaxy is an island of stars in floating in space.
Galaxies come in different shapes.
The most common shapes are spiral and eliptical. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy - it is flat with a central bulge and a number of spiral arms coming out from the centre. The name 'Milky Way' comes from its appearence in our night sky. We are on the inside of of the galaxy looking out. Since our galaxy is a flat disc, there are many more stars in some directions than in others.