Infrared Universe: Mountains of Creation

The visible glow of hot gas in this star-forming region only highlights the areas where stars have been born and emerged from their dust clouds. The infrared view lets us see columns of dust sculpted by the light of the young stars, which themselves contain embedded clusters of baby stars that are about to be born.

Optical: Bright, young stars light up the gas.
Credit: Digital Sky Survey

Infrared: Clusters of forming stars can be seen in the tips of massive dust pillars.
Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, L. Allen (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)

About the Infrared Universe Collection

The human eye can only see visible light, but objects give off a variety of wavelengths of light. To see an object as it truly exists, we would ideally look at its appearance through the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Telescopes show us objects as they appear emitting different energies of light, with each wavelength conveying unique information about the object. The Webb Space Telescope will study infrared light from celestial objects with much greater clarity and sensitivity than ever before. Explore the Infrared Universe. Adapted from Cool Cosmos by IPAC, with additional contributions from Bruno Merin and Miguel Merin (Pludo).