An age-defying star called IRAS 19312+1950 exhibits features characteristic of a very young star and a very old star. The object stands out as extremely bright inside a large, chemically rich cloud of material, More
This artist's concept illustrates how the brightness of outbursting star FU Orionis has been slowly fading since its initial flare-up in 1936. The star is pictured with the disk of material that surrounds it. R More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope imaged the mysterious ring around magnetar SGR 1900+14 in infrared light. NASA/JPL-Caltech
Technicians put final touches on NASA Space Infrared Telescope Facility at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Sunnyvale, Calif., which launched on August 25, 2003. The telescope is now known as the Spitzer Space Te More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope whizzes in front of a brilliant, infrared view of the Milky Way galaxy plane in this artistic depiction. NASA/JPL
This image was used in a contest to rename the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility SIRTF, now known as the Spitzer Space Telescope. NASA/JPL
This engineering image derives from 100 seconds of observing time on one of the three science instruments aboard the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF). SIRTF was launched on August 25, and opened up its More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope image of a glowing stellar nursery provides a spectacular contrast to the opaque cloud seen in visible light inset. NASA/JPL/Caltech
This archival image from 2003 captured by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope captured the Elephant Trunk Nebula, an elongated dark globule within the emission nebula IC 1396 in the constellation of Cepheus. NASA/JPL/Caltech
The magnificent spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81 are highlighted in this NASA Spitzer Space Telescope image. Located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major which also includes the Big Dipper. NA More
The magnificent spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81 are highlighted in this image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. NASA/JPL/Caltech/University of Arizona/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics/N More
The magnificent and dusty spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81 are highlighted in these NASA Spitzer Space Telescope images. NASA/JPL/Caltech/University of Arizona
This image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope transforms a dark cloud into a silky translucent veil, revealing the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star. NASA/JPL/Caltech
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has lifted the cosmic veil to see an otherwise hidden newborn star, while detecting the presence of water and carbon dioxide ices, as well as organic molecules. NASA/JPL/Caltech
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has detected the building blocks of life in the distant universe, albeit in a violent milieu. NASA/JPL/Caltech
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has obtained the first infrared images of the dust disc surrounding Fomalhaut, the 18th brightest star in the sky. NASA/JPL/Caltech/Maxwell Telescope
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has captured an image of an unusual comet that experiences frequent outbursts, which produce abrupt changes in brightness. NASA/JPL/Caltech/Ames Research Center/University of Arizona
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, has captured in stunning detail the spidery filaments and newborn stars of theTarantula Nebula, a rich star-forming region More
A cluster of newborn stars herald their birth in this interstellar Valentine Day commemorative picture obtained with NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. These bright young stars are found in a rosebud-shaped and rose More
This image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, shows the wispy filamentary structure of Henize 206, is a four-color composite mosaic created by combining data from an infrared array camera IRAC. The LMC is a sm More
Hidden behind a shroud of dust in the constellation Cygnus is a stellar nursery called DR21, which is giving birth to some of the most massive stars in our galaxy. Visible light images reveal no trace of this i More
This image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows an exceptionally bright source of radio emission called DR21. NASA/JPL-Caltech
Hidden behind a shroud of dust in the constellation Cygnus is an exceptionally bright source of radio emission called DR21. Visible light images reveal no trace of what is happening in this region because of he More
In the quest to better understand the birth of stars and the formation of new worlds, astronomers have used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to examine the massive stars contained in a cloudy region called Sharpl More
Sometimes, the best way to understand how something works is to take it apart. The same is true for galaxies like NGC 300, which NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has divided into its various parts. NGC 300 is a f More
In this artist's conception, a possible newfound planet spins through a clearing in a nearby star's dusty, planet-forming disc. This clearing was detected around the star CoKu Tau 4 by NASA's Spitzer Space Tele More
One of the most prolific birthing grounds in our Milky Way galaxy, a nebula called RCW 49, is exposed in superb detail for the first time in this new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Located 13,700 li More
This image taken by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows in unprecedented detail the galaxy Centaurus A last big meal: a spiral galaxy seemingly twisted into a parallelogram-shaped structure of dust. NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured these infrared images of a nearby spiral galaxy that resembles our own Milky Way. The targeted galaxy, known as NGC 7331 and sometimes referred to as our galaxy's twi More
This false-color image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a dying star center surrounded by a cloud of glowing gas and dust. NASA/JPL-Caltech/CfA
This false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals hidden populations of newborn stars at the heart of the colliding "Antennae" galaxies. These two galaxies, known individually as NGC 4038 and 4 More
This false-color image composite from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals hidden populations of newborn stars at the heart of the colliding "Antennae" galaxies. These two galaxies, known individually as NGC More
This Spitzer false-color image is a composite of data from the 24 micron channel of Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer (red), and three channels of its infrared array camera: 8 micron (yellow), 5.6 micron ( More
This false-color image taken by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a globular cluster previously hidden in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Globular clusters are compact bundles of old stars that date b More
This artist concept illustrates how planetary systems arise out of massive collisions between rocky bodies. NASA Spitzer Space Telescope show that these catastrophes continue to occur around stars even after th More
This artist concept depicts a distant hypothetical solar system, similar in age to our own. Looking inward from the system outer fringes, a ring of dusty debris can be seen, and within it, planets circling a st More
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope recently captured these infrared images of six older stars with known planets. The yellow, fuzzy blobs are stars circled by disks of dust, or "debris disks," like the one that sur More
This frame from an animation shows the evolution of a planet-forming disk around a star. Initially, the young disk is bright and thick with dust, providing raw materials for building planets. In the first 10 mi More
This artist concept illustrates how a massive collision of objects perhaps as large as the planet Pluto smashed together to create the dust ring around the nearby star Vega. New observations from NASA's Spitzer More
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope recently captured these images of the star Vega, located 25 light years away in the constellation Lyra. Spitzer was able to detect the heat radiation from the cloud of dust around More
This image composite shows a giant galactic blob (red) and the three merging galaxies NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered within it (yellow). Blobs are intensely glowing clouds of hot hydrogen gas that e More
This artist's concept illustrates one possible answer to the puzzle of the "giant galactic blobs." These blobs (red), first identified about five years ago, are mammoth clouds of intensely glowing material that More
This image taken by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the comet Encke riding along its pebbly trail of debris long diagonal line between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Minn.
This image composite compares the well-known visible-light picture of the glowing Trifid Nebula (left panel) with infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (remaining three panels). The Trifid Nebula i More
This image composite compares visible-light and infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the glowing Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the More
This artist animation shows a brown dwarf surrounded by a swirling disc of planet-building dust. NASA Spitzer Space Telescope spotted such a disc around a surprisingly low-mass brown dwarf, or failed star. NASA More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on an extraordinarily low-mass brown dwarf called OTS 44 and found a swirling disc of planet-building dust shown in this artist concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech
This graph of data from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows that an extraordinarily low-mass brown dwarf, or failed star, called OTS 44, is circled by a disc of planet-building dust. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smi More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope finds a delicate flower in the Ring Nebula, as shown in this image. The outer shell of this planetary nebula looks surprisingly similar to the delicate petals of a camellia blossom. More
This spectrum shows the light from a dusty, distant galaxy located 11 billion light-years away. The galaxy is invisible to optical telescopes, but NASA Spitzer Space Telescope captured the light from it and doz More
This artist concept demonstrates that an invisible galaxy shrouded in dust can become glaringly bright when viewed in infrared light. NASA/JPL-Caltech
This artist concept shows what a fiery hot star and its close-knit planetary companion might look close up if viewed in visible and infrared light . NASA/JPL-Caltech
This graph of data from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows changes in the infrared light output of two star-planet systems one above, one below located hundreds of light-years away. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smi More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope sees RCW 79 in the southern Milky Way, 17,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus. NASA/JPL-Caltech/E. Churchwell University of Wisconsin-Madison
This graph of data from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope demonstrates that the dust around a nearby star called HD 69830 upper line has a very similar composition to that of Comet Hale-Bopp. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ISO
This artist concept shows what the night sky might look like from a hypothetical alien planet in a star system with an asteroid belt 25 times as massive as the one in our own solar system. NASA/JPL-Caltech
Evidence for this possible belt was discovered by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope when it spotted warm dust around the star, presumably from asteroids smashing together. This is an artist concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech
These false-color image taken by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the South Pillar region of the star-forming region called the Carina Nebula. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Colorado<br /> Animation: NASA/JPL More
This Spitzer Space Telescope composite shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A white ball and surrounding clouds of dust gray, orange and blue. It consists of two processed images taken one year apart. NASA/JP More
These images from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, taken one year apart, show the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A yellow ball and surrounding clouds of dust reddish orange. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
This artist animation depicts one of the most widely accepted theories pertaining to the origin of comets. This image is courtesy of NASA Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasade More
This graph, or spectrum, from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, charts light from a faraway galaxy located 10 billion light years from Earth. It tracks mid-infrared light from an extremely luminous galaxy when the More
This artist conception symbolically represents complex organic molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, seen in the early universe. These large molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are cons More
This false-color image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a distant galaxy yellow that houses a quasar, a super-massive black hole circled by a ring, or torus, of gas and dust. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Oxford University
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope has captured this stunning infrared view of the famous galaxy Messier 31, also known as Andromeda. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz.<br />Figure 3: NOAO/AURA/NSF
This artist concept shows microscopic crystals in the dusty disk surrounding a brown dwarf, or failed star. The crystals, made up of a green mineral found on Earth called olivine, are thought to help seed the f More
The Tadpole galaxy is the result of a recent galactic interaction in the local universe. These spectacular images were taken by NASA Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic SWIRE Legacy project. NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows two opposing bubbles being formed in opposite directions by the powerful outflows from massive groups of forming stars. The baby stars can be seen as specks of yellow where th More
This majestic false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the "mountains" where stars are born. Dubbed "Mountains of Creation" by Spitzer scientists, these towering pillars of cool gas and dust More
Located 1,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Perseus, a reflection nebula called NGC 1333 epitomizes the beautiful chaos of a dense group of stars being born. This image is from NASA Spitzer Space More
This false-color infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows little dwarf galaxies forming in the tails of two larger galaxies that are colliding together. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ.
In visible light, the bulk of our Milky Way galaxy stars are eclipsed behind thick clouds of galactic dust and gas. But to the infrared eyes of NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, distant stars and dust clouds shine More
This graph, or spectrum, from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that some of the most basic ingredients of DNA and protein are concentrated in a dusty planet-forming disk circling a young sun-like More
This artist concept illustrates a solar system that is a much younger version of our own. Dusty disks, like the one shown here circling the star, are thought to be the breeding grounds of planets, including roc More
Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree cluster from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, created in joint effort between Spitzer infrared array camera an More
The Helix nebula exhibits complex structure on the smallest visible scales. It is composed of gaseous shells and disks puffed out by a dying sun-like star. NASA / JPL-Caltech /Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
This dazzling infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. NASA/JPL-Caltech
Our Milky Way is a dusty place. So dusty that we cannot see the center of the galaxy in visible light. Thanks to NASA Spitzer Space Telescope excellent resolution, the dusty features within the galactic center More
This artist concept illustrates a comet being torn to shreds around a dead star, or white dwarf, called G29-38. NASA Spitzer Space Telescope observed a cloud of dust around this white dwarf that may have been g More
This illustration compares the size of a gargantuan star and its surrounding dusty disk top to that of our solar system. Monstrous disks like this one were discovered around two hypergiant stars by NASA Spitzer More
Galaxy NGC 4579 was captured by the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey, or Sings, Legacy project using the Spitzer Space Telescope infrared array camera. I NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz
This artist concept based on data fromNASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows delicate greenish crystals sprinkled throughout the violent core of a pair of colliding galaxies. The white spots represent a thriving po More
The false-color composite image of the Stephan’s Quintet galaxy cluster is made up of data from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope and a ground-based telescope in Spain. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Max Planck Institute
This infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a galaxy that appears to be sizzling hot, with huge plumes of smoke swirling around it. The galaxy is known as Messier 82 or the Cigar galaxy. IRAC im More
Like great friends, galaxies stick together. Astronomers using NASA Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a handful of great galactic pals bonding back when the universe was a mere 4.6 billion years old. NASA/JP More
This artist concept depicts a type of dead star called a pulsar and the surrounding disk of rubble discovered by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. The pulsar, called 4U 0142+61, was once a massive star until about More
This artist concept depicts the pulsar planet system discovered by Aleksander Wolszczan in 1992. Wolszczan used the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico to find three planets circling a pulsar called PSR B125 More
Something appears to be peering through a shiny red mask, in this new false-colored image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. The mysterious blue eyes are actually starlight from the cores of two merging galaxie More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows three of the many fragments making up Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3. The picture also provides the best look yet at the crumbling comet trail of debris. NASA/JPL-Caltech
This infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the broken Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3 skimming along a trail of debris left during its multiple trips around the sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope caught a glimpse of the Cepheus constellation, thirty thousand light-years away; astronomers think theyve found a massive star whose death barely made a peep. NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA More
This image shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA/NOAO
Astronomers have discovered nearly 300 galaxy clusters and groups, including almost 100 located 8 to 10 billion light-years away, using the space-based Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Mayall 4-mete More
Astronomers using NASA Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a dust factory 30 million light-years away in the spiral galaxy M74. The factory is located at the scene of a massive star explosive death, or superno More
This artist concept demonstrates how a dusty planet-forming disk can slow down a whirling young star, essentially saving the star from spinning itself to death. Evidence for this phenomenon comes from NASA Spit More
This image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Orion nebula, our closest massive star-making factory, 1,450 light-years from Earth. The nebula is close enough to appear to the naked eye as a fuzzy star More
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory compare infrared and visible views of the famous Orion nebula and its surrounding cloud, an industrious star-making region located nea More
This image composite shows a part of the Orion constellation surveyed by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. The shape of the main image was designed by astronomers to roughly follow the shape of Orion cloud A, an en More