NEBULAE · 2005-01-12
New Views of a Familiar Beauty
Visible and infrared panels turn the Trifid Nebula into a direct comparison of what dust conceals and reveals.
What to observe
- Find the dark dust lanes in the visible panel.
- Then find the bright star-forming regions occupying corresponding areas in the infrared panels.
Explanation
Spitzer's infrared observations reveal star-forming activity in regions that appear as dark lanes in the visible-light view.
Color method
The source identifies the Spitzer panels as false-color infrared views placed beside a visible-light image.
Why it matters
The comparison shows why darkness in one wavelength does not mean absence of activity.
Sources and credits
Asset credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NOAO / JPL