Dust Gallery

Orion nebula

Orion nebula. Coloured composite infrared and visible light image of the Orion nebula M42. This emission nebula, a cloud of gas and dust in which starbirth takes place, is found in the constellation Orion, some 1500 light years from Earth. Glowing clouds of ionised hydrogen and sulphur gases are green, and cool clouds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are orange and red. The gases are ionised by radiation from the four young Trapezium stars at the core (centre left). The small orange dots are embryonic stars, growing as they accumulate dust and gas. M42's neighbour, the M43 nebula, can also be seen (pale blue, top left). Infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, visible light data from the Hubble Space Telescope

© NASA/JPL-CALTECH/STSCI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Helix nebula, infrared Spitzer image

Helix nebula (NGC 7293), infrared Spitzer Space Telescope image. This is a planetary nebula, a series of shells of gas cast off by a dying star. The ejection of the star's outer layers exposes its hot core, whose radiation ionises the shells, causing them to glow. This image was taken at wavelengths of varying energy: high (blue), medium (green) and low (red). The gas in the central regions has been ionised more than the outer gas, which is shielded from the stellar core. The most highly ionised areas (cometary heads) are round the edge of the central void. Foreground and background stars are blue. The Helix nebula is 650 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Aquarius. Image data obtained by the IRAC sensor in October 2004

© NASA/JPL-CALTECH/J. HORA (HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CfA)/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Milky Way

Milky Way. Mosaic of photographs of the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy in which our solar system lies. Our Sun is believed to be around two-thirds of the way out from the centre in a small spiral arm. Galactic Centre lies at the centre of the image in the constellation Sagittarius. This is where the bulge of stars in the Milky Way is at its greatest, tapering away on either side. The image runs around the whole of the sky, so our view away from Galactic Centre is seen both at far left and at far right. Interstellar dust obscures much of the Galaxy's central axis. The Milky Way is thought to be about 120, 000 light years across and to contain over 100 billion stars

© ECKHARD SLAWIK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY