Explanation:
Scroll right and gaze through the dusty plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy in
infrared light.
The cosmic panorama
is courtesy of the
Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire
(GLIMPSE)
project and the
Spitzer
Space Telescope.
The galactic
plane itself runs through the middle
of the false-color view that spans nine degrees
(about 18 full moons)
across the southern constellation Norma.
Spitzer's infrared cameras see through much of the galaxy's
obscuring dust revealing many new star clusters as well as
star forming regions (bright white splotches) and hot
interstellar
hydrogen gas (greenish wisps).
The pervasive red clouds are emission from dust and
organic molecules,
pocked with holes and bubbles blown by
energetic outflows from
massive stars.
Intensely dark patches are regions of dust too dense
for even Spitzer's
infrared vision
to penetrate.
