Within the swaddling dust of the Serpens
Cloud Core, astronomers are studying one of the youngest collections of
stars ever seen in our galaxy. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/2MASS. Full image and caption
Stars that are just beginning to coalesce out of cool swaths of dust
and gas are showcased in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope
and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Infrared light has been
assigned colors we see with our eyes, revealing young stars in orange
and yellow, and a central parcel of gas in blue. This area is hidden in
visible-light views, but infrared light can travel through the dust,
offering a peek inside the stellar hatchery.
The dark patch to the left of center is swaddled in so much dust,
even the infrared light is blocked. It is within these dark wombs that
stars are just beginning to take shape.
Called the Serpens Cloud Core, this star-forming region is located
about 750 light-years away in Serpens, or the "Serpent," a constellation
named after its resemblance to a snake in visible light. The region is
noteworthy as it only contains stars of relatively low to moderate mass,
and lacks any of the massive and incredibly bright stars found in
larger star-forming regions like the Orion nebula. Our sun is a star of
moderate mass. Whether it formed in a low-mass stellar region like
Serpens, or a high-mass stellar region like Orion, is an ongoing
mystery.
The inner Serpens Cloud Core is remarkably detailed in this image. It
was assembled from 82 snapshots representing a whopping 16.2 hours of
Spitzer observing time. The observations were made during Spitzer's
"warm mission," a phase that began in 2009 after the observatory ran out
of liquid coolant, as planned.
Most of the small dots in this image are stars located behind, or in front of, the Serpens nebula.
The 2MASS mission was a joint effort between the California Institute
of Technology, Pasadena; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena.
JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the
Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space
Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared
Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at
Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about
Spitzer, visit:
