... The dark clouds, suggestively shaped like smoke rising from a pipe, are caused by absorption of background starlight by dust. NGC1850: Star Cluster in the LMC . ... NGC1850 is a large cluster of stars located a mere 166,000 light-years from Earth in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). ... HH1/HH2: Star Jets . ... A cloud of interstellar gas and dust collapses and a star is born. ... Arp 220: Spirals in Collision . ... Arp 220 is the brightest object in the local universe. ...