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The nebula known as Sharpless 106,  is a stellar nursery located about 1,900 light years from our solar system in the direction of the constellation of Cygnus.  The nebula is a region of  star formation that is in the process of forming a star cluster.

This near-infrared image was captured by David Thompson of the California Institute of Technology using the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch (5-meter) Hale Telescope with its Wide-field Infrared Camera (WIRC).

The research was based on observations obtained at the Hale Telescope, Palomar Observatory, as part of a collaborative agreement between the California Institute of Technology, its divisions Caltech Optical Observatories and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (operated for NASA), and Cornell University.   

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