Most images of nebulas make them look flat, so you aren't able to appreciate the true splendor of what a nebula would really look like if you were to fly toward it through space. But now you can. The Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs the Hubble and Webb telescopes, has been using data gathered by the telescopes to create 3D images of familiar nebulae. And as you can see from these videos, it looks breathtaking. Above, you can see a fly-by of the Helix Nebula, created when gas was blown off as a Sun-sized star collapsed into a white dwarf. This vid also lets you compare the original 2D image with the 3D rendering.

And here's a flyby of the Carina Pillars, whose giant structures made of gas and dust are so awe-inspiring that it's hard to imagine they won't be a future tourist destination.


Find more incredible 3D nebula fly-bys, and learn how these were created, at the Hubble site.