Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
圖片來源:美國國家航空航天局/噴氣推進實驗室-加州理工
形成恆星的W51星雲是我們銀河系中最大的「恆星工廠」之一。雖然該區域的可見光被星際塵埃所阻擋,但通過紅外線,它在NASA的斯皮策空間望遠鏡中現了「原形」。
17年前的本周,NASA的斯皮策空間望遠鏡於2003年8月25日發射升空。該太空飛行器已於2020年1月30日退役。儘管該使命已經結束,但斯皮策望遠鏡在其服役期間所收集到的所有科學數據都通過斯皮策數據檔案向公眾開放,位於加州帕薩迪納市加州理工紅外線過程分析研究中心的紅外科學檔案庫。
https://go.nasa.gov/2QpRDi4
Star-forming nebula W51 is one of the largest "star factories" in our galaxy.While the region's visible light is blocked by interstellar dust, it was revealed in infrared by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope launched 17 years ago this week, on Aug. 25, 2003. The spacecraft was retired on Jan. 30, 2020. Though the mission has concluded, the entire body of scientific data collected by Spitzer during its lifetime is available to the public via the Spitzer data archive, housed at the Infrared Science Archive at IPAC at Caltech in Pasadena, California.
https://go.nasa.gov/2QpRDi4