This beautiful nebula is called the Rosette Nebula, due of course to its primarily pinkish color. It spans about 100 light years and is some 5,000 light years away in the constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn. The large cluster of stars seen in the center is know as NGC 2244. The stars are relatively young in that they formed only 4 million years ago. Those stars (and the radiation they emit) are the primary cause of both the Rosette Nebula's color as well as its structure. Radiation from the stars ionizes the surrounding gas and dust, making it glow, and also slowly pushes it away, forming the nebula's shape. The star cluster spans 50 light years, or half the size of the whole nebula.
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