Science Source Stock Photo - Monkey Head Nebula, NGC 2174

Monkey Head Nebula, NGC 2174

Description: Scores of baby stars shrouded by dust are revealed in this infrared image of NGC 2174, as seen by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Columns of dust, slightly to the right of center in the image, are being carved out of the dust by radiation and stellar winds from the hottest young stars recently born in the area. Spitzer's infrared view provides us with a preview of the next clusters of stars that will be born in the coming millennia. The reddish spots of light scattered through the darker filaments are infant stars swaddled by blankets of warm dust. The warm dust glows brightly at infrared wavelengths. Eventually, these stars will pop out of their dusty envelopes and their light will carve away at the dust clouds surrounding them. In this image, infrared wavelengths have been assigned visible colors we see with our eyes. The greens show the organic molecules in the dust clouds, illuminated by starlight. Reds are caused by the thermal radiation emitted from the very hottest areas of dust. Areas around the edges that were not observed by Spitzer have been filled in using infrared observations from NASA's WISE. Release date August 20, 2015.

Credit:

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Science Source

Unique identifier: SS2711403

Legacy Identifier: JC6232

Type: Image

Size: 4050px × 3492px (~40 MB)

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