The Ring galaxy is a half of a billion light years away. It is exotic. The Cartwheel galaxy used to be like the Milky Way, but an intruding galaxy caused a compression wave. Hydrogen and helium and a small amount of lithium were created in the Big Bang. Life, however, needs heavier elements.
Stars create heavy elements.
Stars arise in gas clouds. The red glow is ionized hydrogen. Rigel is not hot enough to ionize hydrogen. There is a star-forming region in the spiral arm of The Eagle Nebula. The pillars are regions of star formation.