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Trifid's Shifting Sides
| Title |
Trifid's Shifting Sides |
| Description |
This movie shifts from the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula to infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. The movie begins with a visible-light image from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., then shifts to a Spitzer picture from its infrared array camera. The next image is a combination of data from Spitzer's infrared array camera and its multiband imaging photometer. The final still is made up of data from only the multiband imaging photometer. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer mosaic image from the infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer consists of light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The multiband imaging photometer image shows 24-micron emissions. |
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Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
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| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Description |
This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
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Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Description |
This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
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Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Description |
This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
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Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Description |
This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Description |
This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
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New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Description |
This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (top right). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (bottom right), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
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New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Description |
This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (top right). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (bottom right), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
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New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Description |
This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (top right). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (bottom right), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
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New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Description |
This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (top right). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (bottom right), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
|
New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Description |
This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (top right). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (bottom right), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
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A Cauldron of Stars at the G
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| Title |
A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center |
| Description |
This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. In this false-color picture, old and cool stars are blue, while dust features lit up by blazing hot, massive stars are shown in a reddish hue. Both bright and dark filamentary clouds can be seen, many of which harbor stellar nurseries. The plane of the Milky Way's flat disk is apparent as the main, horizontal band of clouds. The brightest white spot in the middle is the very center of the galaxy, which also marks the site of a supermassive black hole. The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth. Scientists are intrigued by the giant lobes of dust extending away from the plane of the galaxy. They believe the lobes may have been formed by winds from massive stars. This image is a mosaic of thousands of short exposures taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The entire region was imaged in less than 16 hours. |
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A Cauldron of Stars at the G
…
| Title |
A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center |
| Description |
This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. In this false-color picture, old and cool stars are blue, while dust features lit up by blazing hot, massive stars are shown in a reddish hue. Both bright and dark filamentary clouds can be seen, many of which harbor stellar nurseries. The plane of the Milky Way's flat disk is apparent as the main, horizontal band of clouds. The brightest white spot in the middle is the very center of the galaxy, which also marks the site of a supermassive black hole. The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth. Scientists are intrigued by the giant lobes of dust extending away from the plane of the galaxy. They believe the lobes may have been formed by winds from massive stars. This image is a mosaic of thousands of short exposures taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The entire region was imaged in less than 16 hours. |
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Luminous Blue Variable: Dest
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| Title |
Luminous Blue Variable: Destined To Be a Supernova? |
| Description |
A Luminous Blue Variable star (inset) in our galaxy, named HD168625, surrounded by a bipolar nebula that is similar to the one around SN1987A. SN1987A was a supernova that exploded in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and was the nearest supernova in about 400 years. The diagram explains the bipolar nebula around HD168625, which has a geometry that makes it a near twin of the famous nebula around SN1987A. Rings near the equator are sometimes seen around stars that shed mass from their surfaces, but the larger rings above the poles are very rare. Tipped toward Earth and illuminated by the star, the rings look like ellipses in images taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The image was taken in 2004 by the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope at wavelengths between 3.6 and 8 microns. The massive star at the center, which lies within the constellation Sagittarius, is about 7,200 light-years from Earth. |
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Luminous Blue Variable: Dest
…
| Title |
Luminous Blue Variable: Destined To Be a Supernova? |
| Description |
A Luminous Blue Variable star (inset) in our galaxy, named HD168625, surrounded by a bipolar nebula that is similar to the one around SN1987A. SN1987A was a supernova that exploded in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and was the nearest supernova in about 400 years. The diagram explains the bipolar nebula around HD168625, which has a geometry that makes it a near twin of the famous nebula around SN1987A. Rings near the equator are sometimes seen around stars that shed mass from their surfaces, but the larger rings above the poles are very rare. Tipped toward Earth and illuminated by the star, the rings look like ellipses in images taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The image was taken in 2004 by the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope at wavelengths between 3.6 and 8 microns. The massive star at the center, which lies within the constellation Sagittarius, is about 7,200 light-years from Earth. |
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Luminous Blue Variable: Dest
…
| Title |
Luminous Blue Variable: Destined To Be a Supernova? |
| Description |
A Luminous Blue Variable star (inset) in our galaxy, named HD168625, surrounded by a bipolar nebula that is similar to the one around SN1987A. SN1987A was a supernova that exploded in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and was the nearest supernova in about 400 years. The diagram explains the bipolar nebula around HD168625, which has a geometry that makes it a near twin of the famous nebula around SN1987A. Rings near the equator are sometimes seen around stars that shed mass from their surfaces, but the larger rings above the poles are very rare. Tipped toward Earth and illuminated by the star, the rings look like ellipses in images taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The image was taken in 2004 by the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope at wavelengths between 3.6 and 8 microns. The massive star at the center, which lies within the constellation Sagittarius, is about 7,200 light-years from Earth. |
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The Milky Way Center Aglow w
…
| Title |
The Milky Way Center Aglow with Dust |
| Description |
Our Milky Way is a dusty place. So dusty, in fact, that we cannot see the center of the galaxy in visible light. But when NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on the galactic center, it captured this spectacular view. Taken with just one of Spitzer's cameras (at a wavelength of 8 microns), the image highlights the region's exceptionally bright and dusty clouds, lit up by young massive stars. Individual stars can also be seen as tiny dots scattered throughout the dust. The top mosaic shows a portion of the galactic center that stretches across a distance of 760 light-years. Thanks to Spitzer's excellent resolution, the dusty features within the galactic center are seen in unprecedented detail. Four examples are shown in the magnified insets at the bottom. The farthest left box shows a pair of star-forming regions resembling owl-like cosmic eyes. To the left of the "eyes," dark lanes of dust can be seen. This object is probably located in a spiral arm between Earth and the galactic center, in contrast to the following examples, which are all located at the galactic center. The next inset to the right includes the extremely luminous "Quintuplet" stars, a set of five massive stars believed to have buried themselves in cocoons of dust. Just below and to the right of the Quintuplet is the "Pistol" nebula, a bubble of ejected material from the central, massive Pistol star. The finger-like pillars to the left are part of a structure known as "Sickle." They are similar in size and shape to those in the famous picture of the Eagle Nebula taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Pillars like these are sculpted out of dense dust clouds by radiation and winds from hot stars. The pillars in the Sickle were likely to have been formed by a cluster of hot stars located to their right but not readily visible here. The third inset highlights a system of long, stringy structures that are seen for the first time near the base of a region known as the "Arched Filaments." These long filaments are about 10 light-years long and less than 1 light-year wide. The bright star-forming regions to the right are some of the brightest in the infrared sky. The final inset to the right shows the center of our galaxy, which is the brightest spot in the entire mosaic. The brightness is a result of dust being heated up by a compact cluster of hot stars. The bright spot also marks the location of a supermassive black hole, around which a rotating ring of gas and dust known as the circumnuclear disk can be seen. This image was taken with Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), using its 8-micron detector. It shows emissions from heated-up molecules in dust clouds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. |
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The Milky Way Center Aglow w
…
| Title |
The Milky Way Center Aglow with Dust |
| Description |
Our Milky Way is a dusty place. So dusty, in fact, that we cannot see the center of the galaxy in visible light. But when NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on the galactic center, it captured this spectacular view. Taken with just one of Spitzer's cameras (at a wavelength of 8 microns), the image highlights the region's exceptionally bright and dusty clouds, lit up by young massive stars. Individual stars can also be seen as tiny dots scattered throughout the dust. The top mosaic shows a portion of the galactic center that stretches across a distance of 760 light-years. Thanks to Spitzer's excellent resolution, the dusty features within the galactic center are seen in unprecedented detail. Four examples are shown in the magnified insets at the bottom. The farthest left box shows a pair of star-forming regions resembling owl-like cosmic eyes. To the left of the "eyes," dark lanes of dust can be seen. This object is probably located in a spiral arm between Earth and the galactic center, in contrast to the following examples, which are all located at the galactic center. The next inset to the right includes the extremely luminous "Quintuplet" stars, a set of five massive stars believed to have buried themselves in cocoons of dust. Just below and to the right of the Quintuplet is the "Pistol" nebula, a bubble of ejected material from the central, massive Pistol star. The finger-like pillars to the left are part of a structure known as "Sickle." They are similar in size and shape to those in the famous picture of the Eagle Nebula taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Pillars like these are sculpted out of dense dust clouds by radiation and winds from hot stars. The pillars in the Sickle were likely to have been formed by a cluster of hot stars located to their right but not readily visible here. The third inset highlights a system of long, stringy structures that are seen for the first time near the base of a region known as the "Arched Filaments." These long filaments are about 10 light-years long and less than 1 light-year wide. The bright star-forming regions to the right are some of the brightest in the infrared sky. The final inset to the right shows the center of our galaxy, which is the brightest spot in the entire mosaic. The brightness is a result of dust being heated up by a compact cluster of hot stars. The bright spot also marks the location of a supermassive black hole, around which a rotating ring of gas and dust known as the circumnuclear disk can be seen. This image was taken with Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), using its 8-micron detector. It shows emissions from heated-up molecules in dust clouds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. |
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Where Galactic Snakes Live
| Title |
Where Galactic Snakes Live |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a "snake" (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment. The sinuous object is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say the "snake's belly" may be harboring beastly stars in the process of forming. The galactic creepy crawler to the right of the snake is another thick cloud core, in which additional burgeoning massive stars might be lurking. The colorful regions below the two cloud cores are less dense cloud material, in which dust has been heated by starlight and glows with infrared light. Yellow and orange dots throughout the image are monstrous developing stars, the red star on the "belly" of the snake is 20 to 50 times as massive as our sun. The blue dots are foreground stars. The red ball at the bottom left is a "supernova remnant," the remains of massive star that died in a fiery blast. Astronomers speculate that radiation and winds from the star before it died, in addition to a shock wave created when it exploded, might have played a role in creating the snake. Spitzer was able to spot the two black cloud cores using its heat-seeking infrared vision. The objects are hiding in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy, invisible to optical telescopes. Because their heat, or infrared light, can sneak through the dust, they first showed up in infrared images from past missions. The cloud cores are so thick with dust that if you were to somehow transport yourself into the middle of them, you would see nothing but black, not even a star in the sky. Now, that's spooky! Spitzer's new view of the region provides the best look yet at the massive embryonic stars hiding inside the snake. Astronomers say these observations will ultimately help them better understand how massive stars form. By studying the clustering and range of masses of the stellar embryos, they hope to determine if the stars were born in the same way that our low-mass sun was formed -- out of a collapsing cloud of gas and dust -- or by another mechanism in which the environment plays a larger role. The snake is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This false-color image is a composite of infrared data taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue represents 3.6-micron light, green shows light of 8 microns, and red is 24-micron light. |
|
Where Galactic Snakes Live (
…
| Title |
Where Galactic Snakes Live (Artistically Enhanced) |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a "snake" (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment. The sinuous object is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say the "snake's belly" may be harboring beastly stars in the process of forming. The galactic creepy crawler to the right of the snake is another thick cloud core, in which additional burgeoning massive stars might be lurking. The colorful regions below the two cloud cores are less dense cloud material, in which dust has been heated by starlight and glows with infrared light. Yellow and orange dots throughout the image are monstrous developing stars, the red star on the "belly" of the snake is 20 to 50 times as massive as our sun. The blue dots are foreground stars. The red ball at the bottom left is a "supernova remnant," the remains of massive star that died in a fiery blast. Astronomers speculate that radiation and winds from the star before it died, in addition to a shock wave created when it exploded, might have played a role in creating the snake. Spitzer was able to spot the two black cloud cores using its heat-seeking infrared vision. The objects are hiding in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy, invisible to optical telescopes. Because their heat, or infrared light, can sneak through the dust, they first showed up in infrared images from past missions. The cloud cores are so thick with dust that if you were to somehow transport yourself into the middle of them, you would see nothing but black, not even a star in the sky. Now, that's spooky! Spitzer's new view of the region provides the best look yet at the massive embryonic stars hiding inside the snake. Astronomers say these observations will ultimately help them better understand how massive stars form. By studying the clustering and range of masses of the stellar embryos, they hope to determine if the stars were born in the same way that our low-mass sun was formed -- out of a collapsing cloud of gas and dust -- or by another mechanism in which the environment plays a larger role. The snake is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This false-color image is a composite of infrared data taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue represents 3.6-micron light, green shows light of 8 microns, and red is 24-micron light. |
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Two Moons Passing in the Nig
…
| title |
Two Moons Passing in the Night |
| date |
08.26.2005 |
| description |
Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. "It is incredibly cool to be running an observatory on another planet," said planetary scientist Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on Spirit and Opportunity. In this animation, both martian moons, Deimos on the left and Phobos on the right, travel across the night sky in front of the constellation Sagittarius. Part of Sagittarius resembles an upside-down teapot. Phobos is the brighter object on the right, Deimos is on the left. Spirit acquired these enhanced-brightness images with the panoramic camera on the night of sol 585 (Aug. 26, 2005). Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the six images that make up this animation using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions. *Image credit:* NASA/JPL/Cornell/ Texas A&M |
|
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sep
…
| title |
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sept. 24) |
| date |
09.21.2006 |
| description |
A white arrow marks Pluto in this New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture taken Sept. 21, 2006. Seen at a distance of about 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) from the spacecraft, Pluto is little more than a faint point of light among a dense field of stars. Mission scientists knew they had Pluto in their sights when LORRI detected an unresolved "point" in Pluto's predicted position, moving at the planet's expected motion across the constellation of Sagittarius near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
|
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sep
…
| title |
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sept. 21) |
| date |
09.21.2006 |
| description |
A white arrow marks Pluto in this New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture taken Sept. 21, 2006. Seen at a distance of about 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) from the spacecraft, Pluto is little more than a faint point of light among a dense field of stars. Mission scientists knew they had Pluto in their sights when LORRI detected an unresolved "point" in Pluto's predicted position, moving at the planet's expected motion across the constellation of Sagittarius near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
|
An Asteroid's Sky Trek
| title |
An Asteroid's Sky Trek |
| description |
While analyzing NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy (SagDIG), an international team of astronomers led by Simone Marchi, Yazan Momany, and Luigi Bedin were surprised to see the trail of a faint asteroid that had drifted across the field of view during the exposures. The trail is seen as a series of 13 reddish arcs on the right in this August 2003 Advanced Camera for Surveys image. As the Hubble telescope orbits around the Earth, and the Earth moves around the Sun, a nearby asteroid in our solar system will appear to move with respect to the vastly more distant background stars, due to an effect called parallax. It is somewhat similar to the effect you see from a moving car, in which trees by the side of the road appear to be moving much more rapidly than background objects at much larger distances. If the Hubble exposure were a continuous one, the asteroid trail would appear like a continuous wavy line. However, the exposure with Hubble's camera was actually broken up into more than a dozen separate exposures. After each exposure, the camera's shutter was closed while the image was transferred from the electronic detector into the camera's computer memory, this accounts for the many interruptions in the asteroid's trail. Since the trajectory of the Hubble spacecraft around the Earth is known very accurately, it is possible to triangulate the distance to the asteroid in a manner similar to that used by terrestrial surveyors. It turns out to be a previously unknown asteroid, located 169 million miles from Earth at the time of observation. The distance places the new object, most likely, in the main asteroid belt, lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Based on the observed brightness of the asteroid, the astronomers estimate that it has a diameter of about 1.5 miles. The brightest stars in the picture (easily distinguished by the spikes radiating from their images, produced by optical effects within the telescope), are foreground stars lying within our own Milky Way galaxy. Their distances from Earth are typically a few thousand light-years. The faint, bluish SagDIG stars lie at about 3.5 million light-years (1.1 Megaparsecs) from us. Lastly, background galaxies (reddish/brown extended objects with spiral arms and halos) are located even further beyond SagDIG at several tens of millions parsecs away. There is thus a vast range of distances among the objects visible in this photo, ranging from about 169 million miles for the asteroid, up to many quadrillions of miles for the faint, small galaxies. The team reported their science findings about the asteroid in the October 2004 issue of New Astronomy. *Image Credit*: NASA, ESA, and Y. Momany (University of Padua) |
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The Trifid Nebula: Stellar S
…
| Title |
The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Sibling Rivalry |
|
The Trifid Nebula: Stellar S
…
| Title |
The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Sibling Rivalry |
|
Hubble Weighs in on the Heav
…
| Title |
Hubble Weighs in on the Heaviest Stars in the Galaxy |
|
The Hubble SWEEPS Field
| Title |
The Hubble SWEEPS Field |
| Explanation |
This crowded star field [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/ releases/2006/34/ ] towards the center of our Milky Way Galaxy turns out to be a great place to search for planets beyond [ http://www.alienearths.org/online/ starandplanetformation/planetfamilies.php ] our solar system. In fact, repeatedly imaging about 180,000 stars in the field [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/ releases/2006/34/fastfacts/ ] over a one week period, the Hubble Space Telescope enabled astronomers to conduct the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Their search looked for brief, periodic dips in brightness caused as a large planet eclipses [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991115.html ] or transits its parent star. Since chances [ http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2006/34/images/g/ formats/web_print.jpg ] of seeing such an eclipse are slim, it was a definite advantage to examine as many stars as possible. In the end, SWEEPS astronomers found [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0610098 ] 16 candidate stars (green circles identify 11 in this cropped picture) that are likely closely orbited by large Jupiter-sized planets with periods of a few days or less. Large planets orbiting so close to their stars are termed hot Jupiters [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-18/release.shtml ]. Kepler [ http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/ ], a future NASA mission, is intended to extend the transit technique to search for Earth-sized planets [ http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm ]. |
|
Stars of the Galactic Center
| Title |
Stars of the Galactic Center |
| Explanation |
The center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040411.html ] of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051004.html ] from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-02/ssc2006-02a.shtml ], the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ ir_tutorial/importance.html ] cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-02/release.shtml ] older, cool stars in bluish hues. Reddish glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051023.html ] lies some 26,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius [ http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html ]. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years. |
|
Infrared Trifid
| Title |
Infrared Trifid |
| Explanation |
The Trifid Nebula, aka Messier 20 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m020.html ], is easy to find with a small telescope, a well known stop in the nebula rich [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040909.html ] constellation Sagittarius [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html ]. But where visible light pictures [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020424.html ] show the nebula divided into three parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes, this penetrating infrared image [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2005-02/ ssc2005-02a.shtml ] reveals filaments of glowing dust clouds and newborn stars. The spectacular false-color view is courtesy of the Spitzer Space Telescope [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/index.shtml ]. Astronomers have used the Spitzer infrared image [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ ] data to count newborn and embryonic [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07226 ] stars which otherwise can lie hidden in the natal dust and gas clouds of this intriguing stellar nursery [ http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Bima/ StarForm.html ]. As seen here, the Trifid is about 30 light-years across and lies only 5,500 light-years away. |
|
Messiers and Mars
| Title |
Messiers and Mars |
| Explanation |
A telescopic tour of the constellation Sagittarius [ http://www.seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/ sagittarius.html ] offers the many bright clusters and nebulae of dimensioned space [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010418.html ] in a starscape [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000629.html ] surrounding the galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990911.html ]. This gorgeous color deep-sky photograph [ http://members.home.net/fct150/mars_visits_messier.htm ] visits two such lovely sights, cataloged by the 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/biograph.html ] as M8 and M20. M20 (upper left), the Trifid Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000328.html ], presents a striking contrast in red/blue colors and dark dust lanes. Just below and to the right is the expansive, alluring red glow of M8, the Lagoon Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010103.html ]. Both nebulae are a few thousand light-years distant but at the far right, the dominant celestial beacon is a "local" source, the planet Mars [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html ]. Just passing through Sagittarius and strongly overexposed in this picture, the Red Planet [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] is a short 4 light-minutes away. Now near its closest approach [ http://www.skypub.com/sights/moonplanets/0105marsreturn.shtml ] to planet Earth since 1988, Mars rises around sunset and can be seen [ http://members.nbci.com/marsprev/mpenglish.htm ] for most of the night shining [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/07600/07642.html#Item1 ] brightly at about -2.3 magnitude [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/stars/ magnitudes.html ]. Urban imager [ http://members.home.net/mrcolewa/cartoon.htm ] Michael Cole recorded this photograph at 3:00 AM on May 20th in clear skies over Camp Hancock, Oregon, USA. |
|
A Galactic Star Forming Regi
…
| Title |
A Galactic Star Forming Region in Infrared |
| Explanation |
How do stars form? To help study this complex issue, astronomers took a deep image in infrared light of an active part of our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://cassfos02.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/MW.html ] where star formation is rampant. In IRDC G11.11-0.11, thick clouds of dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html ] and gas are congealing into stars that are so dark that humans living there would see an empty night sky. The image [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2006-20/ ssc2006-20a.shtml ], though, taken last year by the Spitzer Space Telescope [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitzer_Space_Telescope ] in infrared light [ http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/ imagers/ems/infrared.html ], shows vast glowing fields of gas and dust, indicating that much of this dust is heated by forming stars. The centers of some clouds, such as the snake-like structure [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050521.html ] on the upper left, are so thick and cold that they are dark even in infrared light [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared ]. Many of the red dots are glowing dust shrouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030816.html ] centered on very young newly formed stars. The unusual red sphere below the snake is actually a supernova remnant [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051226.html ], the glowing shell of a young star so massive it evolved rapidly and exploded. The region [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2006-20/ ssc2006-20a.shtml ] spans about 150 light years and lies about 10,000 light years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] away toward the constellation of Sagittarius [ http://www.astronomical.org/portal/modules/wfsection/ article.php?articleid=72 ]. APOD editor to review best space pictures in Philadelphia Wednesday night [ http://www.rittenhouseastronomicalsociety.org/ ] |
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Open Cluster NGC 6520 from C
…
| Title |
Open Cluster NGC 6520 from CFHT |
| Explanation |
Did you ever have a day when it felt like a dark cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010923.html ] was following you around? For the open cluster [ http://www.seds.org/messier/open.html ] of stars NGC 6520, every day is like this. On the left of the above picture [ http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/AIOM/English/CFHT-Coelum-AIOM.html ] are many of NGC 6520's bright blue stars. They formed only millions of years ago - much more recently than our ancient Sun which formed billions of years ago. On the right is an absorption nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/dark_nebulae.html ], molecular cloud [ http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/poster/bigbang3.html ] Barnard 86 [ http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/Barnard.html ], from which the stars of NGC 6520 surely formed. This nebula contains much opaque dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010813.html ] that blocks light from the many stars that would have been visible in the background. Surrounding NGC 6520 [ http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/AAO/images/captions/aat092.html ] is part of the tremendously dense starscape in the bulge of our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970315.html ], the extended halo of stars that surrounds the center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010708.html ] of our Galaxy. NGC 6520 [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1982S%26T....63..254M ] spans about 10 light years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] and lies about 5500 light years away toward the direction of Sagittarius [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/sgr.html ]. |
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Hale-Bopp, Jupiter, and the
…
| Title |
Hale-Bopp, Jupiter, and the Milky Way |
| Explanation |
Shining brightly, the mighty Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/jupiter.html ] rules this gorgeous Kodacolor photo of the Milky Way near Sagittarius [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960605.html ]. Astronomer Bill Keel [ http://crux.astr.ua.edu/keel/billkeel.html ] took the picture earlier this month (July 7) while standing near the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951216.html ] contemplating the sky [ http://crux.astr.ua.edu/keel/fam/fam.html ] in the direction of the center of the Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950908.html ] (right of picture center). In addition to the gas giant planet, which is well placed for evening viewing [ http://NewProducts.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/jup_sky/ ], the image contains an impressive sampler of celestial goodies. Many famous emission nebulae [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#emis_neb ] are visible as reddish patches - M16, the Eagle nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951106.html ], is just above and right of center, with the Horseshoe nebula, M17, just below it and farther to the right. Also, look for the Lagoon Nebula, M8 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960127.html ], as the brightest red patch at the right of the picture with the Trifid Nebula, M20 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951221.html ], just above it and to the left. The milky glow of distant unresolved stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960213.html ] in the plane of our Galaxy (thus the term Milky Way) runs through the image cut by dark, absorbing, interstellar dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960125.html ] clouds. The much anticipated comet Hale-Bopp [ http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/comets/index.html ] is also clearly visible. Where's the comet? "Click on the picture to view the comet's location flanked by superposed vertical lines". The comet was discovered while still beyond the orbit of Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] a year ago today independently by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/hale_bopp/discoverers.html ]. Astronomers monitoring Hale-Bopp's activity [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951030.html ] report that having now brightened to almost 6th magnitude [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/MAG.HTML ] it is still on track for becoming an extremely bright naked-eye comet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/hyakutake.html ] in early 1997. |
|
Messiers and Mars
| Title |
Messiers and Mars |
| Explanation |
A telescopic tour of the constellation Sagittarius [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html ] offers the many bright clusters and nebulae of dimensioned space [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010418.html ] in a starscape [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000629.html ] surrounding the galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990911.html ]. This gorgeous color deep-sky photograph [ http://home.earthlink.net/~fct150/mars_visits_messier.htm ] visits two such lovely sights, cataloged by the 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/biograph.html ] as M8 and M20. M20 (upper left), the Trifid Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000328.html ], presents a striking contrast in red/blue colors and dark dust lanes. Just below and to the right is the expansive, alluring red glow of M8, the Lagoon Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010103.html ]. Both nebulae are a few thousand light-years distant but at the far right, the dominant celestial beacon is a "local" source, the planet Mars [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html ]. Just passing through Sagittarius and strongly overexposed in this picture, the Red Planet [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] was a short 4 light-minutes away. Now headed [ http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/mars.html ] for its closest approach [ http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/ article_985_1.asp ] to planet Earth in recorded history, Mars rises in the east southeast by midnight shining brightly at about -1.4 magnitude [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/stars/ magnitudes.html ]. Urban imager [ http://home.earthlink.net/~urbanimager/cartoon.htm ] Michael Cole recorded this photograph at 3:00 AM on May 20th, 2001 in clear skies over Camp Hancock, Oregon, USA. |
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Palomar at Night
| Title |
Palomar at Night |
| Explanation |
What's wrong with this picture? The summer night sky is clear, and moonlight illuminates the dome of the Hale 200-inch Telescope [ http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/butowsky5/ astro4e.htm ] at Palomar Observatory [ http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomarpublic/ ], northeast of San Diego, California, USA. The familiar stars of the Teapot asterism [ http://www.earthsky.com/Features/ Skywatching/swg030225-n.html ] in the constellation Sagittarius [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/ ] shine above the dome and to the right. In fact, the only thing wrong with the picture is that the observatory dome's two massive shutters are closed tight ... on a clear night. This extremely unusual situation is a precaution prompted by the presence of airborne ash and smoke from wildfires [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001121.html ] in the area on July 17 which could have damaged the historic [ http://www.aas.org/publications/baas/v30n2/aas192/abs/ S001003.html ] mirror's aluminum coating. Amateur astronomer Greg Redfern notes that this year has been a particularly bad one for observatories and wildfires, with the Mt. Stromlo [ http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~brian/press/ ] Australian Observatory disaster and fires also threatening telescopes on Mount Lemmon [ http://www.astr.ua.edu/keel/telescopes/mtlemmon.html ] near Tucson, Arizona. |
|
Infrared Trifid
| Title |
Infrared Trifid |
| Explanation |
The Trifid Nebula, aka M20 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m020.html ], is easy to find with a small telescope, a well known stop in the nebula rich [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040909.html ] constellation Sagittarius [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html ]. But where visible light pictures [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020424.html ] show the nebula divided into three parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes, this penetrating infrared image [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2005-02/ ssc2005-02a.shtml ] reveals filaments of luminous gas and newborn stars. The spectacular false-color view is courtesy of the Spitzer Space Telescope [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/index.shtml ]. Astronomers have used the Spitzer infrared image [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ ] data to count newborn and embryonic [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07226 ] stars which otherwise can lie hidden in the natal dust and glowing clouds of this intriguing stellar nursery [ http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Bima/ StarForm.html ]. As seen here, the Trifid is about 30 light-years across and lies only 5,500 light-years away. |
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Stars of the Galactic Center
| Title |
Stars of the Galactic Center |
| Explanation |
The center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040411.html ] of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051004.html ] from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-02/ssc2006-02a.shtml ], the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ ir_tutorial/importance.html ] cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-02/release.shtml ] older, cool stars in bluish hues. Reddish glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051023.html ] lies some 26,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius [ http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html ]. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years. |
|
Entire Sky
| Title |
Entire Sky |
| Description |
Aitoff projection of the three-color composite JHKs source count map of the entire sky, based on 95,851,173 stars with Ks 13.5. What appears most prominently are the Galactic plane and the Galactic bulge. The plane is cut by dark dust lanes and clouds, even in the near-infrared, and several dusty regions, including Orion, are conspicuous. One can also see the two Magellanic Clouds, Large and Small. (Note the prominent bar and incipient spiral structure of the Large Cloud.) Near the Small Magellanic Cloud is the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Cutting almost north-south through one side of the bulge is the dwarf Sagittarius galaxy, which, along with the Clouds, is a satellite of the Milky Way. 2MASS has completed the observational part of the survey and is now preparing to reprocess all of the data for a Final public Release, in late 2002. The source generation was performed by M.F. Skrutskie (UMass, Principal Investigator, 2MASS), the flux maps were compiled by J.M. Carpenter (Caltech), and the color composite was assembled by R. Hurt (IPAC/Caltech). It is this composite flux map that comprises the new 2MASS logo, seen above. |
| Date |
12.01.1999 |
|
Trifid Nebula
| Title |
Trifid Nebula |
| Description |
Atlas Image mosaic, covering 14.8' x 20.0' on the sky, of the Trifid Nebula, aka Messier 20 and NGC 6514. The Trifid is only about 1.5 degrees northwest on the sky of the larger Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8) in the constellation Sagittarius, and is at a distance from us of 1.68 kpc (or 5477 light years), near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. It gets its name from its optical appearance, from three dark dust lanes that divide it. Like the Lagoon, much of the optical emission is dominated by the red light from hydrogen, forming an "H II region" of ionized gas around the bright small cluster of hot stars just to the southeast of the image center, the rest of the emission is reflected blue light from these hot stars, primarily from the brightest one, HD 164492A. In the near-infrared we can see through much of the obscuring dust in the Trifid, including the name-giving dust lanes, but still see much of the bluish light reflected by the dust. In the 2MASS image, much of the dark dust is still seen, but also many more stars than are seen optically. The Trifid is less than 1 million years old, and young, massive still-forming stellar objects can be seen as well. Visit the Trifid and other Messier objects in the 2MASSier Object Gallery. Image mosaic by E. Kopan (IPAC). |
| Date |
12.02.1999 |
|
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sep
…
PIA09233
Sol (our sun)
LORRI
| Title |
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sept. 24) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A white arrow marks Pluto in this New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture taken Sept. 21, 2006. Seen at a distance of about 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) from the spacecraft, Pluto is little more than a faint point of light among a dense field of stars. Mission scientists knew they had Pluto in their sights when LORRI detected an unresolved "point" in Pluto's predicted position, moving at the planet's expected motion across the constellation of Sagittarius near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. |
|
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sep
…
PIA09232
Sol (our sun)
LORRI
| Title |
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sept. 21) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A white arrow marks Pluto in this New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture taken Sept. 21, 2006. Seen at a distance of about 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) from the spacecraft, Pluto is little more than a faint point of light among a dense field of stars. Mission scientists knew they had Pluto in their sights when LORRI detected an unresolved "point" in Pluto's predicted position, moving at the planet's expected motion across the constellation of Sagittarius near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
PIA07226
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left, figure 1) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left, figure 1) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right, figure 1), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left, figure 1). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
PIA07226
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left, figure 1) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left, figure 1) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right, figure 1), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left, figure 1). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
PIA07226
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left, figure 1) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left, figure 1) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right, figure 1), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left, figure 1). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
PIA07226
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left, figure 1) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left, figure 1) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right, figure 1), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left, figure 1). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
PIA07226
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left, figure 1) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left, figure 1) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right, figure 1), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left, figure 1). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Co
…
PIA07226
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Visible-light images of the Trifid taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Baltimore, Md. (inside left, figure 1) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., (outside left, figure 1) show a murky cloud lined with dark trails of dust. Data of this same region from the Institute for Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain revealed four dense knots, or cores, of dust (outlined by yellow circles), which are "incubators" for embryonic stars. Astronomers thought these cores were not yet ripe for stars, until Spitzer spotted the warmth of rapidly growing massive embryos tucked inside. These embryos are indicated with arrows in the false-color Spitzer picture (right, figure 1), taken by the telescope's infrared array camera. The same embryos cannot be seen in the visible-light pictures (left, figure 1). Spitzer found clusters of embryos in two of the cores and only single embryos in the other two. This is one of the first times that multiple embryos have been observed in individual cores at this early stage of stellar development. |
|
New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
PIA07225
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (figure 4). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (figure 5), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image (figure 3) shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image (figure 2) is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
|
New Views of a Familiar Beau
…
PIA07225
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
New Views of a Familiar Beauty |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1 This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images reveal a different side of the Trifid Nebula. Where dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture, bright regions of star-forming activity are seen in the Spitzer pictures. All together, Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars throughout the Trifid Nebula, in both its dark lanes and luminous clouds. These stars are visible in all the Spitzer images, mainly as yellow or red spots. Embryonic stars are developing stars about to burst into existence. Ten of the 30 massive embryos discovered by Spitzer were found in four dark cores, or stellar "incubators," where stars are born. Astronomers using data from the Institute of Radioastronomy millimeter telescope in Spain had previously identified these cores but thought they were not quite ripe for stars. Spitzer's highly sensitive infrared eyes were able to penetrate all four cores to reveal rapidly growing embryos. Astronomers can actually count the individual embryos tucked inside the cores by looking closely at the Spitzer image taken by its infrared array camera (figure 4). This instrument has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's imaging cameras. The Spitzer image from the multiband imaging photometer (figure 5), on the other hand, specializes in detecting cooler materials. Its view highlights the relatively cool core material falling onto the Trifid's growing embryos. The middle panel is a combination of Spitzer data from both of these instruments. The embryos are thought to have been triggered by a massive "type O" star, which can be seen as a white spot at the center of the nebula in all four images. Type O stars are the most massive stars, ending their brief lives in explosive supernovas. The small newborn stars probably arose at the same time as the O star, and from the same original cloud of gas and dust. The Spitzer infrared array camera image is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 and 8.0 microns (red). The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer image (figure 3) shows 24-micron emissions. The Spitzer mosaic image combines data from these pictures, showing light of 4.5 microns (blue), 8.0 microns (green) and 24 microns (red). The visible-light image (figure 2) is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. |
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