Spitzer Sheds Infrared Light on Hundreds of Newborn Stars
Observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal hundreds
of newly forming stars in the nebula RCW49, located 13,700
light-years from Earth. Operating at wavelengths of light longer
than those seen by the human eye, Spitzer can clearly see these
young stars, or "protostars," which are hidden from visible
views in shrouds of dust. This animation shows what a human eye
might see if it could be re-tuned to see different parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum. It shows RCW49 in shifting wavelengths
of light, beginning with visible views and ending with Spitzer
infrared observations. The picture changes in hue from red to
blue, then fades from sight, as new infrared features appear in
false colors. The first false-color infrared view is from the
near-infrared Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) mission and
shows wavelengths of 1.3 to 2.2 microns. The second false-color
view is from Spitzer's infrared array camera and covers
wavelengths of 3.6 to 8 micro