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List		 Addition DateSort Ascending Target Mission Instrument Size
Add Image to Favorite List 2007-01-26 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This is an artist's concept of a hypothetical 10-million-year-old star system. The bright blur at the center is a star much like our sun. The other orb in the image is a gas-giant planet like Jupiter.
PIA09117:
Gas Giants Form Quickly (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (205.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2007-01-16 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and Spitzer Space Telescope combined to show a pair of interacting galaxies might be experiencing the galactic equivalent of a mid-life crisis.
PIA09106:
Older Galaxy Pair Has Surprisingly Youthful Glow
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.051 MB)     JPEG (55.51 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2007-01-09 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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This image composite highlights the pillars of the Eagle nebula, as seen in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (bottom) and visible light by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (top insets).
PIA09109:
Unwrapping the Pillars
Full Resolution:     TIFF (18.49 MB)     JPEG (578.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2007-01-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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This set of images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Eagle nebula in different hues of infrared light. Each view tells a different tale.
PIA09108:
Eagle Nebula Flaunts its Infrared Feathers
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.14 MB)     JPEG (1.048 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2007-01-09 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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This majestic view taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells an untold story of life and death in the Eagle nebula, an industrious star-making factory located 7,000 light-years away in the Serpens constellation.
PIA09107:
Cosmic Epic Unfolds in Infrared
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.14 MB)     JPEG (890.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-12-18 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This is an image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of stars and galaxies in the Ursa Major constellation. This infrared image covers a region of space so large that light would take up to 100 million years to travel across it.
PIA09100:
The Universe's First Fireworks
Full Resolution:     TIFF (11.13 MB)     JPEG (405.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-12-18 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept illustrates the universe's early years, from its explosive formation to its dark ages to its first stars and mini-galaxies. Scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found patches of infrared light splattered across the sky.
PIA09099:
Stars Spring up Out of the Darkness (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (930.5 kB)     JPEG (22 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-12-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Infant stars are glowing gloriously in this image of the Serpens star-forming region, captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The reddish-pink dots are baby stars deeply embedded in the cosmic cloud of gas and dust that collapsed to create it.
PIA09072:
Seeing Stars in Serpens
Full Resolution:     TIFF (19.27 MB)     JPEG (752 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-12-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This is a composite image of N49, the brightest supernova remnant in optical light in the Large Magellanic Cloud; the image combines data from the Chandra X-ray Telescope (blue) and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (red).
PIA09071:
Stellar Debris in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.86 MB)     JPEG (373.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-12-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the 'bow shock' of a dying star named R Hydrae, or R Hya, in the constellation Hydra.
PIA09070:
Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Full Resolution:     TIFF (12.35 MB)     JPEG (212.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-11-07 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes have teamed up to expose the chaos that baby stars are creating 1,500 light-years away in a cosmic cloud called the Orion nebula.
PIA01322:
Chaos at the Heart of Orion
Full Resolution:     TIFF (108 MB)     JPEG (1.536 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-27 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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A star's spectacular death in the constellation Taurus was observed on Earth as the supernova of 1054 A.D. This composite image uses data from three of NASA's Great Observatories. The Chandra X-ray, Hubble Space, and Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA01320:
Dead Star Creates Celestial Havoc
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.5 MB)     JPEG (466.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-27 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a 'snake' (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment.
PIA01318:
Where Galactic Snakes Live
Full Resolution:     TIFF (20.7 MB)     JPEG (1.154 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-26 Cassiopeia A Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the scattered remains of an exploded star named Cassiopeia A. Spitzer's infrared detectors 'picked' through these remains and found that much of the star's original layering had been preserved.
PIA01903:
Lighting up a Dead Star's Layers
Full Resolution:     TIFF (7.693 MB)     JPEG (218 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-26 Cassiopeia A Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows the explosion of a massive star, the remains of which are named Cassiopeia A. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that the star exploded with some degree of order.
PIA01902:
Order Amidst Chaos of Star's Explosion (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (914.2 kB)     JPEG (56.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-26 Cassiopeia A Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist concept shows that NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that this star, the remains of which are named Cassiopeia A, exploded with some degree of order, preserving chunks of its onion-like layers as it blasted apart.
PIA01901:
Once an Onion, Always an Onion (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.62 MB)     JPEG (576.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-12 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows a Jupiter-like planet soaking up the scorching rays of its nearby 'sun.' This NASA Spitzer Space Telescope illustration portrays how the planet would appear to infrared eyes, showing temperature variations across its surface.
PIA01938:
Exotic World Blisters Under the Sun (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (23.07 MB)     JPEG (308.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-12 Spitzer Space Telescope
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The top graph consists of infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. It tells astronomers that a distant planet, called Upsilon Andromedae b, always has a giant hot spot on the side that faces the star, while the other side is cold and dark.
PIA01937:
The Light and Dark Sides of a Distant Planet
Full Resolution:     TIFF (19.29 MB)     JPEG (812.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-12 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows a blistering world revolving around its nearby 'sun.' NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope observed a planetary system like this one, as the planet's sunlit and dark hemispheres swung alternately into the telescope's view.
PIA01936:
Fire and Ice Planet (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (920.9 kB)     JPEG (22.82 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-10-03 Spitzer Space Telescope
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The potential planet-forming disk (or 'protoplanetary disk') of a sun-like star is being violently ripped away by the powerful winds of a nearby hot O-type star in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA01319:
A Star's Close Encounter
Full Resolution:     TIFF (839.7 kB)     JPEG (43.53 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-09-28 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Spitzer Space Telescope
 MIPS
Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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The many 'personalities' of our great galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are exposed in this new composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA08787:
Amazing Andromeda Galaxy
Full Resolution:     TIFF (53.72 MB)     JPEG (3.426 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-09-01 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (detected by the multiband imaging photometer) shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.
PIA07137:
What's Old is New in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Full Resolution:     TIFF (108 MB)     JPEG (8.784 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-09-01 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.
PIA07136:
Our Chaotic Neighbor
Full Resolution:     TIFF (108 MB)     JPEG (11.3 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-08-15 Orion Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image composite outlines the region near Orion's sword that was surveyed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (white box). The Orion nebula, our closest massive star-making factory, is the brightest spot near the hunter's sword.
PIA08656:
Infrared Spotlight on Orion's Sword
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.2 MB)     JPEG (328.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-08-15 Orion Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image composite shows a part of the Orion constellation surveyed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The shape of the main image was designed by astronomers to roughly follow the shape of Orion cloud A, an enormous star-making factory.
PIA08655:
A Slice of Orion
Full Resolution:     TIFF (417 MB)     JPEG (5.782 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-08-15 Orion Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory compare infrared and visible views of the famous Orion nebula and its surrounding cloud, an industrious star-making region located near the hunter constellation's sword.
PIA08654:
The Infrared Hunter
Full Resolution:     TIFF (14.03 MB)     JPEG (324.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-08-15 Orion Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Orion nebula, our closest massive star-making factory, 1,450 light-years from Earth. The nebula is close enough to appear to the naked eye as a fuzzy star in the sword of the constellation.
PIA08653:
The Sword of Orion Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (57.96 MB)     JPEG (738.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-07-24 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept demonstrates how a dusty planet-forming disk can slow down a whirling young star, essentially saving the star from spinning itself to death. Evidence for this phenomenon comes from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA08626:
Stars Can't Spin Out of Control (Artist's Animation) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (23.04 MB)     JPEG (714.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-07-21 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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Visible Light
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This new false-colored image from NASA's Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes shows a giant jet of particles that has been shot out from the vicinity of a type of supermassive black hole called a quasar.
PIA08617:
Black Hole Spills Kaleidoscope of Color
Full Resolution:     TIFF (973.2 kB)     JPEG (10.56 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-06-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a 'dust factory' 30 million light-years away in the spiral galaxy M74. The factory is located at the scene of a massive star's explosive death, or supernova.
PIA08533:
Supernova Dust Factory in M74
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.26 MB)     JPEG (325.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-06-06 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the supernova remnant 1E0102.2-7219 sits next to the nebula N76 in a bright, star-forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy.
PIA08516:
Dusty Death of a Massive Star
Full Resolution:     TIFF (9.498 MB)     JPEG (553.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-06-05 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Mosaic-I Camera
Mayall 4-Meter Telescope
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Astronomers have discovered nearly 300 galaxy clusters and groups, including almost 100 located 8 to 10 billion light-years away, using the space-based Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Mayall 4-meter telescope.
PIA08509:
Galaxies Gather at Great Distances
Full Resolution:     TIFF (4.618 MB)     JPEG (365.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-06-05 Messier 31 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA08506:
Fade to Red Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (219.5 MB)     JPEG (10.51 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-05-11 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
MIPS
Visible Light
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope caught a glimpse of the Cepheus constellation, thirty thousand light-years away; astronomers think they've found a massive star whose death barely made a peep.
PIA08453:
The (Almost) Invisible Aftermath of a Massive Star's Death
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.322 MB)     JPEG (104 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-04-26 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Something appears to be peering through a shiny red mask, in this new false-colored image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The mysterious blue eyes are actually starlight from the cores of two merging galaxies, called NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
PIA08098:
Ready for the Cosmic Ball
Full Resolution:     TIFF (3.065 MB)     JPEG (65.47 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-04-26 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Visible Light
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NASA's Hubble and Spitzer telescopes combined to make these shape-shifting galaxies taking on the form of a giant mask. The icy blue eyes are actually the cores of two merging galaxies, called NGC 2207 and IC 2163, and the mask is their spiral arms.
PIA08097:
Eyes in the Sky
Full Resolution:     TIFF (12.95 MB)     JPEG (560.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-04-24 M82 Galaxy Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Chandra X-ray Telescope
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
Visible Light
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NASA's Spitzer, Hubble and Chandra space observatories teamed up to create this multi-wavelength, false-colored view of the M82 galaxy. The lively portrait celebrates Hubble's 'sweet sixteen' birthday.
PIA08093:
Great Observatories Present Rainbow of a Galaxy Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (45.01 MB)     JPEG (799.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-04-05 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept depicts the pulsar planet system discovered by Aleksander Wolszczan in 1992. Wolszczan used the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico to find three planets circling a pulsar called PSR B1257+12.
PIA08042:
Extreme Planets (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (351.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-04-05 Spitzer Space Telescope
W. M. Keck Observatory
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Keck I Telescope
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This plot shows that a pulsar, the remnant of a stellar explosion, is surrounded by a disk of its own ashes. The disk, revealed by the two data points at the far right from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, is the first ever found around a pulsar.
PIA08041:
Circle of Ashes
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.45 MB)     JPEG (212.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-04-05 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept depicts a type of dead star called a pulsar and the surrounding disk of rubble discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The pulsar, called 4U 0142+61, was once a massive star until about 100,000 years ago.
PIA08040:
Stellar Rubble May be Planetary Building Blocks (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (23.04 MB)     JPEG (721.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-03-21 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Like great friends, galaxies stick together. Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a handful of great galactic pals bonding back when the universe was a mere 4.6 billion years old.
PIA02038:
Great Galactic Buddies
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.09 MB)     JPEG (698.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-03-16 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a galaxy that appears to be sizzling hot, with huge plumes of smoke swirling around it. The galaxy is known as Messier 82 or the 'Cigar galaxy.'
PIA02917:
Smokin' Hot Galaxy (animation) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.619 MB)     JPEG (163.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-03-03 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Near Infrared Spectrometer
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The false-color composite image of the Stephan's Quintet galaxy cluster is made up of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and a ground-based telescope in Spain.
PIA02587:
A Shocking Surprise in Stephan's Quintet
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.804 MB)     JPEG (87.19 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-02-15 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
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This artist's concept based on data fromNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows delicate greenish crystals sprinkled throughout the violent core of a pair of colliding galaxies. The white spots represent a thriving population of stars of all sizes and ages.
PIA02180:
Galactic Hearts of Glass (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (875.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-02-15 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Galaxy NGC 4579 was captured by the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey, or Sings, Legacy project using the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared array camera. I
PIA08007:
Galaxy NGC 4579
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.843 MB)     JPEG (35.48 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-02-08 R 66 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrometer (IRS)
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This illustration compares the size of a gargantuan star and its surrounding dusty disk (top) to that of our solar system. Monstrous disks like this one were discovered around two 'hypergiant' stars by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA08006:
Supersized Disk (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (37.01 MB)     JPEG (435.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-01-19 Helix Nebula Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Advanced Camera for Surveys
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
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Six hundred and fifty light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, a dead star about the size of Earth, is refusing to fade away peacefully. NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes have captured the complex structure of the Helix nebula.
PIA03678:
The Mark of a Dying Star
Full Resolution:     TIFF (32.78 MB)     JPEG (1.165 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-01-11 G29-38 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrometer (IRS)
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This artist's concept illustrates a comet being torn to shreds around a dead star, or white dwarf, called G29-38. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope observed a cloud of dust around this white dwarf that may have been generated from comet disruption.
PIA03652:
Comet 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead Star (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (298.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-01-11 Cartwheel Galaxy Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Chandra X-ray Telescope
GALEX Telescope
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
Visible Light
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This false-color composite image shows the Cartwheel galaxy as seen by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, where the first ripple appears as an ultraviolet-bright blue outer ring.
PIA03296:
A Stellar Ripple
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.762 MB)     JPEG (201.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-01-10 Milky Way Spitzer Space Telescope
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Our Milky Way is a dusty place. So dusty that we cannot see the center of the galaxy in visible light. Thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's excellent resolution, the dusty features within the galactic center are seen in unprecedented detail.
PIA03653:
The Milky Way Center Aglow with Dust
Full Resolution:     TIFF (106.1 MB)     JPEG (3.431 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-01-10 Milky Way Spitzer Space Telescope
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This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy.
PIA03654:
A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center
Full Resolution:     TIFF (106.1 MB)     JPEG (7.727 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2006-01-09 Helix Nebula Spitzer Space Telescope
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The Helix nebula exhibits complex structure on the smallest visible scales. It is composed of gaseous shells and disks puffed out by a dying sun-like star.
PIA03294:
The Infrared Helix
Full Resolution:     TIFF (20.14 MB)     JPEG (1.082 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-12-22 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree cluster from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, a joint effort between Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer instrument.
PIA03244:
Stellar Snowflake Cluster
Full Resolution:     TIFF (27.04 MB)     JPEG (801.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-12-20 IRS 46 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept illustrates a solar system that is a much younger version of our own. Dusty disks, like the one shown here circling the star, are thought to be the breeding grounds of planets, including rocky ones like Earth.
PIA03243:
Portrait of Our Dusty Past (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (361.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-12-20 IRS 46 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
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This graph, or spectrum, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that some of the most basic ingredients of DNA and protein are concentrated in a dusty planet-forming disk circling a young sun-like star called IRS 46.
PIA03242:
Life's Starting Materials Found in Dusty Disk
Full Resolution:     TIFF (19.15 MB)     JPEG (290.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-12-13 Milky Way Spitzer Space Telescope
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In visible light, the bulk of our Milky Way galaxy's stars are eclipsed behind thick clouds of galactic dust and gas. But to the infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, distant stars and dust clouds shine with unparalleled clarity and color.
PIA03239:
A Glimpse of the Milky Way
Full Resolution:     TIFF (486 MB)     JPEG (37.05 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-12-01 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This false-color infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows little 'dwarf galaxies' forming in the 'tails' of two larger galaxies that are colliding together.
PIA03605:
Dwarf Galaxies Swimming in Tidal Tails
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.811 MB)     JPEG (60.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-11-15 Perseus Spitzer Space Telescope
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Located 1,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Perseus, a reflection nebula called NGC 1333 epitomizes the beautiful chaos of a dense group of stars being born. This image is from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA03545:
Chaotic Star Birth
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.448 MB)     JPEG (257.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-11-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This majestic false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows 'mountains' where stars are born. These towering pillars of cool gas and dust are illuminated at their tips with light from warm embryonic stars.
PIA03096:
Towering Infernos
Full Resolution:     TIFF (26.19 MB)     JPEG (900.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-10-28 Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows two opposing bubbles being formed in opposite directions by the powerful outflows from massive groups of forming stars. The baby stars can be seen as specks of yellow where the two bubbles overlap.
PIA03544:
Black Widow Nebula Hiding in the Dust
Full Resolution:     TIFF (7.693 MB)     JPEG (323.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-10-27 Spitzer Space Telescope
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The Tadpole galaxy is the result of a recent galactic interaction in the local universe. These spectacular images were taken by NASA's Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) Legacy project.
PIA03543:
A SWIRE Picture is Worth Billions of Years
Full Resolution:     TIFF (945.5 kB)     JPEG (39.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-10-20 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows microscopic crystals in the dusty disk surrounding a brown dwarf, or 'failed star.' The crystals, made up of a green mineral found on Earth called olivine, are thought to help seed the formation of planets.
PIA03048:
Sowing the Seeds of Planets? (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (301.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-10-13 M31 Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured this stunning infrared view of the famous galaxy Messier 31, also known as Andromeda.
PIA03031:
Amazing Andromeda in Red
Full Resolution:     TIFF (19.75 MB)     JPEG (3.247 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-09-27 HUDF-JD2 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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Visible Light
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This image demonstrates how data from two of NASA's Great Observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, are used to identify one of the most distant galaxies ever seen. This galaxy is named named HUDF-JD2.
PIA03542:
Big Galaxy in Baby Universe
Full Resolution:     TIFF (14.9 MB)     JPEG (647.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-08-03 AMS08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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MIPS
Very Large Array (VLA)
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This false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a distant galaxy (yellow) that houses a quasar, a super-massive black hole circled by a ring, or torus, of gas and dust.
PIA08001:
Gorilla Black Hole in the Mist
Full Resolution:     TIFF (13.24 MB)     JPEG (199.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-07-27 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's conception symbolically represents complex organic molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, seen in the early universe. These large molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are considered among the building blocks of life.
PIA03538:
Ingredients for Life (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (13.86 MB)     JPEG (575.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-07-27 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
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This graph, or spectrum, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, charts light from a faraway galaxy located 10 billion light years from Earth. It tracks mid-infrared light from an extremely luminous galaxy when the universe was only 1/4 of its current age.
PIA03537:
Charting Ingredients for Life
Full Resolution:     TIFF (10.68 MB)     JPEG (174.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-06-10 Cassiopeia A Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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Visible Light
Chandra X-ray Telescope
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This false-color image from three of NASA's Great Observatories provides one example of a star that died in a fiery supernova blast. Called Cassiopeia A, this supernova remnant is located 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
PIA03519:
Cassiopeia A: Death Becomes Her Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (7.432 MB)     JPEG (263.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-06-10 Cassiopeia A Spitzer Space Telescope
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These images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, taken one year apart, show the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (yellow ball) and surrounding clouds of dust (reddish orange).
PIA03518:
A Year in the Life of an Infrared Echo
Full Resolution:     TIFF (13.83 MB)     JPEG (301.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-06-10 Cassiopeia A Spitzer Space Telescope
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This Spitzer Space Telescope composite shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (white ball) and surrounding clouds of dust (gray, orange and blue). It consists of two processed images taken one year apart.
PIA03517:
Dead Star Rumbles
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.562 MB)     JPEG (138.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-05-30 Carina Nebula Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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These false-color image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the 'South Pillar' region of the star-forming region called the Carina Nebula.
PIA03515:
All Pillars Point to Eta Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (103.1 MB)     JPEG (3.749 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-05-04 Messier 104 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Visible Light
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on one of the most famous objects in the sky, Messier 104, also called the Sombrero galaxy.
PIA07899:
Spitzer Spies Spectacular Sombrero Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.13 MB)     JPEG (214.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-04-20 HD 69830 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Evidence for this possible belt was discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope when it spotted warm dust around the star, presumably from asteroids smashing together. This is an artist's concept.
PIA07854:
Band of Rubble (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (350.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-04-20 HD 69830 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows what the night sky might look like from a hypothetical alien planet in a star system with an asteroid belt 25 times as massive as the one in our own solar system.
PIA07853:
Alien Asteroid Belt Compared to our Own (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (23.04 MB)     JPEG (451.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-04-20 HD 69830 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
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This graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope demonstrates that the dust around a nearby star called HD 69830 (upper line) has a very similar composition to that of Comet Hale-Bopp.
PIA07852:
Super-Comet or Big Asteroid Belt?
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.75 MB)     JPEG (375.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-04-18 RCW 79 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope sees RCW 79 in the southern Milky Way, 17,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus.
PIA07841:
A Bubble Bursts
Full Resolution:     TIFF (17.88 MB)     JPEG (657.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-03-22 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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This graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows changes in the infrared light output of two star-planet systems (one above, one below) located hundreds of light-years away.
PIA07491:
The Language of Planetary Light
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.72 MB)     JPEG (358 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-03-22 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows what a fiery hot star and its close-knit planetary companion might look close up if viewed in visible and infrared light .
PIA07490:
Blinded by the Light (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (11.48 MB)     JPEG (252.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-03-01 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept demonstrates that an invisible galaxy shrouded in dust can become glaringly bright when viewed in infrared light.
PIA07396:
Invisible Galaxies Come to Life! (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (18.75 MB)     JPEG (578.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-03-01 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
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This spectrum shows the light from a dusty, distant galaxy located 11 billion light-years away. The galaxy is invisible to optical telescopes, but NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured the light from it and dozens of other similar galaxies.
PIA07395:
Fingerprints in the Light
Full Resolution:     TIFF (3.413 MB)     JPEG (283.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-02-11 Ring Nebula Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope finds a delicate flower in the Ring Nebula, as shown in this image. The outer shell of this planetary nebula looks surprisingly similar to the delicate petals of a camellia blossom.
PIA07343:
Ring Beholds a Delicate Flower Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (7.244 MB)     JPEG (304.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-02-08 OTS 44 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows that an extraordinarily low-mass brown dwarf, or 'failed star,' called OTS 44, is circled by a disc of planet-building dust.
PIA07337:
Planetary Building Blocks Found in Surprising Place
Full Resolution:     TIFF (5.46 MB)     JPEG (248.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-02-08 OTS 44 Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on an extraordinarily low-mass brown dwarf called OTS 44 and found a swirling disc of planet-building dust shown in this artist concept.
PIA07336:
'Mini-Me' Solar System (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.098 MB)     JPEG (386.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-02-08 OTS 44 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows a brown dwarf surrounded by a swirling disc of planet-building dust. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope spotted such a disc around a surprisingly low-mass brown dwarf, or 'failed star.'
PIA07335:
Birth of an Unusual Planetary System (Artist Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (11.05 MB)     JPEG (371.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-12 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, seen here by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA07226:
Stellar 'Incubators' Seen Cooking up Stars
Full Resolution:     TIFF (11.86 MB)     JPEG (481.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-12 Trifid Nebula Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS)
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The Trifid Nebula is a giant star-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, seen here by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA07225:
New Views of a Familiar Beauty
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.73 MB)     JPEG (765 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-11 Encke Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the comet Encke riding along its pebbly trail of debris (long diagonal line) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
PIA07222:
Riding a Trail of Debris
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.884 MB)     JPEG (215.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-11 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept illustrates one possible answer to the puzzle of the 'giant galactic blobs.' NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away.
PIA07221:
At the Heart of Blobs (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (8.552 MB)     JPEG (322.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-11 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Blobs are intensely glowing clouds of hot hydrogen gas that envelop faraway galaxies. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was able to see the dusty galaxies tucked inside one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away.
PIA07220:
Mysterious Blob Galaxies Revealed
Full Resolution:     TIFF (4.293 MB)     JPEG (173.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-10 Vega Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope recently captured these images of the star Vega, located 25 light years away in the constellation Lyra.
PIA07218:
Tiny Particles, So Far Away
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.332 MB)     JPEG (36.35 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2005-01-10 Vega Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist concept illustrates how a massive collision of objects perhaps as large as the planet Pluto smashed together to create the dust ring around the nearby star Vega.
PIA07217:
Massive Smash-up at Vega (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.11 MB)     JPEG (332.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-12-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Bright, young disks can be imaged directly by visible-light telescopes, such as NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Older, fainter debris disks can be detected only by infrared telescopes like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which sense the disks' dim heat.
PIA07099:
The Evolution of a Planet-Forming Disk (Artist's Concept Animation) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (4.195 MB)     JPEG (75.87 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-12-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope recently captured these infrared images of six older stars with known planets. The yellow, fuzzy blobs are stars circled by disks of dust, or 'debris disks,' like the one that surrounds our own Sun.
PIA07098:
Is There Anybody Home?
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.3 MB)     JPEG (126 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-12-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Artist's concept of a distant hypothetical solar system, about the same age as our own.
PIA07097:
A Distant Solar System (Artist's Concept Animation) Animation Icon
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Add Image to Favorite List 2004-12-09 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept depicts a distant hypothetical solar system, similar in age to our own. Looking inward from the system's outer fringes, a ring of dusty debris can be seen, and within it, planets circling a star the size of our Sun.
PIA07096:
A Distant Solar System (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (7.518 MB)     JPEG (308.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-10-18 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept illustrates how planetary systems arise out of massive collisions between rocky bodies. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that these catastrophes continue to occur around stars even after they have developed full-sized planets.
PIA06939:
The Rocky World of Young Planetary Systems (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (4.159 MB)     JPEG (301.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-10-12 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This false-color image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a globular cluster previously hidden in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Globular clusters are compact bundles of old stars that date back to the birth of our galaxy.
PIA06928:
Spitzer Digs Up Galactic Fossil
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.089 MB)     JPEG (63.25 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-10-06 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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This composite image represent views of Kepler's supernova remnant taken in X-rays, visible light, and infrared radiation.
PIA06910:
Kepler's Supernova Remnant: A View from Spitzer Space Telescope
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.167 MB)     JPEG (110.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-10-06 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Chandra X-ray Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's three Great Observatories -- the Hubble Space Telescope, the SpitzerSpace Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory -- joined forces to probe the expanding remains of a supernova, called Kepler's supernova remnant.
PIA06907:
Three Great Eyes on Kepler's Supernova Remnant
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.453 MB)     JPEG (33.78 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2004-09-07 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals hidden populations of newborn stars at the heart of the colliding 'Antennae' galaxies. These two galaxies are known individually as NGC 4038 and 4039.
PIA06854:
Fire within the Antennae Galaxies
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.308 MB)     JPEG (76.5 kB)
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