Star birth. Hubble space telescope (HST) coloured combined infrared and optical image of star birth regions at the heart of galaxy NGC 1808. The image has been coloured so that cooler regions, consisting of older stars, appear yellow, while hot new star birth regions are blue. There is an exceptional amount of star birth activity in this galaxy. The dark regions are thick lanes of gas and dust, which most likely obscure even more star birth areas. Star birth typically occurs in regions of dense gas and dust. This galaxy is around 40,000,000 light-years away. Data obtained on 14th August 1997.