Hidden Universe: NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Welcome home! This is our Milky Way galaxy as you’ve never seen it before. Ten years in the making, this is the clearest infrared panorama of our galactic home ever made, courtesy of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

On August 25, 2003, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope to reveal secrets of the infrared universe.

On August 25, 2003, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope to reveal secrets of the infrared universe.

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what they believe is an alien world just two-thirds the size of Earth - one of the smallest on record!

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what they believe is an alien world just two-thirds the size of Earth - one of the smallest on record!

Over the last half century this Cygnus X has been yielding its secrets to the scrutiny of infrared observations. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has now provided the best view yet of what we now know is one of the largest single areas of star formation in our Milky Way galaxy.

Over the last half century this Cygnus X has been yielding its secrets to the scrutiny of infrared observations. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has now provided the best view yet of what we now know is one of the largest single areas of star formation in our Milky Way galaxy.

Hiding behind the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius is the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, over 25,000 light years away. This patch of sky is mostly dark in visible light, shrouded by dust clouds that lie between us and the Galactic center. But the infrared vision of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope sees through the dust showing us this strange and tumultuous region.

Hiding behind the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius is the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, over 25,000 light years away. This patch of sky is mostly dark in visible light, shrouded by dust clouds that lie between us and the Galactic center. But the infrared vision of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope sees through the dust showing us this strange and tumultuous region.

Seen here in visible light, the North America Nebula strangely resembles its namesake continent. Expanding our view to include infrared light, the dark dust lanes and concealed stars glow in red colors while the continental gas clouds shift to an ocean-­‐like blue. Pushing entirely into the infrared spectrum, we see even more detail in the convoluted dust clouds.