It's amazing how dust clouds, stellar winds, ultraviolet radiation and supernovas can all work together to form nebulae into beautiful shapes. Last time, we treated you to a glimpse of the Fox Fur nebula. This time, we present NGC 6188.

As you can see from the picture above, the emission nebula is truly a sight to behold, despite the lack of fanciness in its name. The various hues of color that you see are emissions of sulfur, hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

So how did NGC 6188 come to be? Massive young stars of an embedded stellar association gave the nebula the shape it currently has. Previous generations of stars went supernova, swept up the molecular gas and compressed it. The lights are there due to stellar winds and intense UV radiation.

In case you're wondering where it's located, NGC 6188 may be found near the edge of a dark, large molecular cloud in the southern constellation of Ara, some 4,000 light years away.