Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The beautiful nebula RCW 49 as seen by Spitzer

The beautiful nebula RCW 49 as seen by Spitzer
Click on the image for full resolution (1.64 MB)

The nebula and star-forming region RCW 49, shown in infrared light in this image from the Spitzer Space Telescope, is a nursery for newborn stars. Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have found in RCW 49 more than 300 newborn or "protostars", all with circumstellar disks of dust and gas. The discovery reveals that galaxies make new stars at a much more prolific rate than previously imagined. The stelar disks of dust and gas not only feed material onto the growing new stars, but can be the raw material for new planetary systems.
The full resolution image weighs 1.64 MB, so please be (a little) patient when downloading!
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Image enhancement: Jean-Baptiste Faure

3 comment(s):

ISC9 said...

Beautiful, and the song also. What's its name?

Jean-Baptiste Faure said...

The song is called "Leaving Earth", by film music composer Clint Mansell! :)

Falcon Falcone said...

Amazing View

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