Clearly some of the scientists at NASA have "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on their minds.
A photo taken by NASA's Hubble telescope released this week shows what the space agency says looks a lot like a real-life cosmic light saber in our own galaxy.
NASA said the image shows a newborn star with twin jets shooting out
into the Milky Way. The newborn star is located 1,350 light years away
from Earth.
While "Star Wars" fans may see a double-bladed light saber, there's a real-life explanation for what's happening.
"Gas from a surrounding disk rains down onto the dust-obscured protostar
and engorges it. The material is superheated and shoots outward from
the star in opposite directions along an uncluttered escape route -- the
star's rotation axis," the Hubble team said in a blog post. And that's
how the light saber effect is created.
Elsewhere in space, astronauts at the International Space Station are patiently waiting for their chance to watch the latest "Star Wars" installment.
No lines for #StarWars but we do have to wait for it to get to @Space_Station Soon. Patience we must have, padawans! pic.twitter.com/qt9QiGrXuk
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) December 17, 2015
Funny how #sunrise resembles a light saber. #TheForceAwakens #GoodMorning from @space_station! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/M94pnl5EAY
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) December 18, 2015