NASA Releases Breathtaking Photos Of Neighboring Galaxies As They've Never Been Seen Before
The dust created by dying stars has a consistency similar to smoke, and is one of the materials that helps form new stars. Nearly half of all the starlight in the universe is absorbed by dust, with many of the heavy chemical elements essential to forming new planet's, such as Earth, locked up in dust grains in space. Because of this, it is an important role in understanding our universe, according to a recent post on NASA's website.
Herschel has the ability to produce images of interstellar dust in high-resolution views of fine detail. This helps to reveal intricate substructures within these clouds of dust. However, Herschel was incapable of detecting light from clouds that are more spread out and diffused. This meant that it missed up to 30% of all the light given off by dust. In order to overcome this, researchers combined data from three other missions: ESA's retired Planck observatory, and two of NASA's retired missions, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE).
When observing the images, red indicates hydrogen gas, which is also the most common element in the universe. The red tail of the Large Magellanic Cloud that comes off the bottom left of the galaxy, was most likely created when it collided with the Small Magellanic Cloud around 100 million years ago. The green light around the edges of the bubbles, which indicate where new stars are forming, indicates the presence of cold dust that has accumulated due to the winds from those newborn stars.
"These improved Herschel images show us that the dust 'ecosystems' in these galaxies are very dynamic," stated Christopher Clark, an astronomer at the Space Science Telescope Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, who led the work to create the new images.
Top Image Credit: Andromeda Galaxy ESA/NASA