This is the tip of the 3-light-year-long pillar bathed in the glow of light from hot, massive stars just off the top of this image. Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from these stars are sculpting the pillar and causing new stars to form within it. Streamers of gas and dust can be seen flowing off the top of the structure like a halo.
A little out from the dark notch is the jet, indicated by groupings of small, wispy clouds on its left and right. Astronomers estimate that the jet is moving at speeds of up to 850,000 miles an hour. The jet's total length is about 10 light-years.