 Swirling dust clouds and bright newborn stars dominate the view of this image of the lagoon nebula. Within these clouds of dust and gas, a new generation of stars is forming. This Hubble image reveals a pair of one-half light-year-long interstellar twisters, eerie funnels and twisted rope structures in the heart of the lagoon nebula. Analogous to Earth tornadoes, the large difference in temperature between the hot surface and cold interior of the clouds, combined with the pressure of starlight, produce strong horizontal shear to twist the clouds into their tornado-like appearance. This Hubble image shows only a small part of this turbulent star-forming region, about four light-years across. The whole nebula is an incredible 55 light-years wide and 20 light-years tall.