Space scientists have released a jaw-dropping image of a space 'sea slug'.

The stunning picture was taken by NASA's Hubble space telescope which is celebrating it's 36th birthday this week. 

Situated about 5,000 light-years from Earth, is a star-formation region called the Trifid Nebula which Hubble captured in all its cosmic wonder. 

The breathtaking image, captured using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, shows a shimmering cloud of gas and dust where new stars are forming. In visible light, the colours resemble an underwater landscape, with fine particles appearing to drift like sediment through the depths. 

But this latest observation highlight a distinctive formation within the nebula, described by astronomers as a 'Cosmic Sea Lemon' due to its resemblance to a sea slug gliding through space. 

Astronomers say that over millions of years, the gas and dust within the nebula will gradually disperse, leaving behind only fully formed stars. 

NASA Hubble Mission Team said: 'Hubble's view of the Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20 or M20, focuses on a 'head' and undulating 'body' of a rusty-coloured cloud of gas and dust that resembles a marine sea lemon, or sea slug, that appears as if it is gliding through the cosmos.'

They added: 'Several massive stars, which are outside this field of view, have shaped this region for at least 300,000 years. Their powerful winds continue to blow an enormous bubble, a small portion of which is shown here, that pushes and compresses the cloud's gas and dust, triggering new waves of star formation.'

Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 1.7 million observations and contributed to tens of thousands of scientific papers.

In recent years, it has helped uncover evidence of early galaxy formation, observed faint and distant galaxies, and detected unexpected phenomena using artificial intelligence. 

It has also recorded collisions between asteroids in another star system and captured a comet breaking apart within our own Solar System.

Hubble is expected to remain operational for at least another four years until 2030 but it could continue to beam images thousands of lightyears back to earth until 2040.