Reality can often be as beautiful as imagination. In this photo, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on July 3, 2002, glowing gaseous streamers of red, white, and blue - as well as green and pink - illuminate the heavens like Fourth of July fireworks. The colorful streamers that float across the sky in this photo were created by one of the biggest firecrackers seen to go off in our galaxy in recorded history, the titanic supernova explosion of a massive star.

Credits - NASA/STScI