Explanation:
Dusty NGC 1333
is seen in visible light as a
reflection nebula,
dominated by bluish hues characteristic
of starlight reflected by dust.
But at longer infrared wavelengths, the
interstellar
dust itself glows.
Moving your cursor over the picture will match up a
visible
light view with a false-color infrared image of the region from the
Spitzer Space Telescope.
The penetrating
infrared view unmasks youthful stars
that are otherwise obscured by the
dusty clouds
that formed them.
Also revealed are greenish streaks and splotches that seem to
litter the region.
The structures trace the glow of
cosmic jets blasting away
from emerging young stellar objects and plowing into the
cold cloud material.
In all, the chaotic
environment likely resembles one in which our own
Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago.
NGC
1333 is a mere 1,000 light-years distant in the constellation
Perseus.
