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Explanation: This fantastic skyscape lies at the eastern edge of giant stellar nursery W5, about 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. An infrared view from the Spitzer Space Telescope, it features interstellar clouds of cold gas and dust sculpted by winds and radiation from a hot, massive star outside the picture (just above and to the right). Still swaddled within the cosmic clouds, newborn stars are revealed by Spitzer's penetrating gaze, their formation also triggered by the massive star. Fittingly dubbed "Mountains of Creation", these interstellar clouds are about 10 times the size of the analogous Pillars of Creation in M16, made famous in a 1995 Hubble Space Telescope view. W5 is also known as IC 1848 and together with IC 1805 it is part of a complex region popularly dubbed the Heart and Soul Nebulae. The Spitzer image spans about 70 light-years at the distance of W5.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: W5 - star formation - dust - interstellar medium - infrared
Publications with words: W5 - star formation - dust - interstellar medium - infrared
See also:
- APOD: 2025 March 26 Á Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
- APOD: 2025 February 23 Á Saturn in Infrared from Cassini
- Young Stars, Dark Nebulae
- APOD: 2024 December 22 Á The Local Fluff
- APOD: 2024 October 22 Á M16: Pillars of Star Creation
- APOD: 2024 September 29 Á Seven Dusty Sisters
- The Dark Seahorse of Cepheus