Our Dusty Universe
Explanation:
What's black & white and red all over?
Add our
universe to this list.
Adrift in a vast sea of darkness are not only familiar
bright stars but
dust
that glows predominantly in far-
infrared light.
This
cosmological dust was recently discovered
in data taken previously by the
COBE satellite,
and visible as a
diffuse glow visible in the
above image.
The amount of
dust in the universe is important because it
is a measure of the number of stars that created it,
of the number of
stars that are cloaked by it,
and of the amount of distortion created in measurements of the
distant universe.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
