Images From Spitzer Space Telescope

[Bond]

NASA's newly named Spitzer Space Telescope has captured dazzling images of a dusty, spiral galaxy; a planet-forming disc; a glowing, stellar nursery and a young, buried star, demonstrating the power of its infrared eyes to spy hidden objects.

Top left: The dusty, star-studded arms of M81, a nearby spiral galaxy similar to our own, are illuminated in unprecedented detail. The image reveals Spitzer's ability to explore regions invisible in optical light.
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Top right: A massive disc of dusty debris encircles a nearby star called Fomalhaut. Such discs are remnants of planetary construction; our own planet is believed to have formed out of a similar disc.
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Bottom left: Resembling a flaming creature on the run, this image exposes the hidden interior of a dark and dusty cloud in the emission nebula IC 1396. Young stars previously obscured by dust can be seen here for the first time.
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Bottom right: This Spitzer image transforms a dark cloud into a silky translucent veil, revealing the stellar winds from an otherwise hidden newborn star called HH46-IR. Spitzer's remarkable capacity to peer through cosmic dust allowed it to unveil this never-before-seen star.
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Launched in August 2003 as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), Spitzer was renamed in honor of Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr, the first to propose placing telescopes in space.