This artist concept illustrates an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega. Evidence for this warm ring of debris was found using NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, and the European Space Agency Herschel Space Observatory.

This image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light as seen by ESA Herschel Space Observatory and NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. The brightest center-left region is called 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula.

This new image of the Orion Nebula produced using previously released data from three telescopes shows two enormous caverns carved out by unseen giant stars that can release up to a million times more light than our Sun. All that radiation breaks apart dust grains there, helping to create the pair of cavities. Much of the remaining dust is swept away when the stars produce wind or when they die explosive deaths as supernovae. This infrared image shows dust but no stars. Blue light indicates warm dust heated by unseen massive stars. Observed in infrared light – a range of wavelengths outside what human eyes can detect – the views were provided by NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which now operates under the moniker NEOWISE. Spitzer and WISE were both managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is a division of Caltech. Around the edge of the two cavernous regions, the dust that appears green is slightly cooler. Red indicates cold dust that reaches temperatures of about minus 440 Fahrenheit (minus 260 Celsius). The cold dust appears mostly on the outskirts of the dust cloud, away from the regions where stars form. The red and green light shows data from the now-retired Herschel Space Telescope, an ESA (European Space Agency) observatory that captured wavelengths in the far-infrared and microwave ranges, where cold dust radiates. In between the two hollow regions are orange filaments where dust condenses and forms new stars. Over time, these filaments may produce new giant stars that will once again reshape the region. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25434

NASA Spitzer Space Telescope and ESA Herschel mission combined to show this view of the Orion nebula, found below the three belt stars in the famous constellation of Orion the Hunter, highlights fledgling stars hidden in the gas and clouds.

ESA Herschel Space Observatory found oxygen molecules in a dense patch of gas and dust adjacent to star-forming regions in the Orion nebula.

This graphic illustrates where astronomers at last found oxygen molecules in space -- near the star-forming core of the Orion nebula. The squiggly lines, or spectra, reveal the signatures of oxygen molecules, detected by ESA Hershel Space Observatory.

In this diagram, the Vega system, which was already known to have a cooler outer belt of comets orange, is compared to our solar system with its asteroid and Kuiper belts. The ring of warm, rocky debris was detected using NASA Spitzer Space Telescope,

In combined data from ESA Herschel and NASA Spitzer telescopes, irregular distribution of dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clear. A stream of dust extends to left, known as the galaxy wing, and a bar of star formation appears to right.

The Small Magellanic Cloud, shown here, is a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. The image includes data from the ESA (European Space Agency) Herschel mission, supplemented with data from ESA's retired Planck observatory and two retired NASA missions: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Operated from 2009 to 2013, Herschel detected wavelengths of light in the far-infrared and microwave ranges, and was ideal for studying dust in nearby galaxies because it could capture small-scale structures in the dust clouds in high resolution. However, Herschel often couldn't detect light from diffuse dust clouds – especially in the outer regions of galaxies, where the gas and dust become sparse and thus fainter. As a result, the mission missed up to 30% of all the light given off by dust. Combining the Herschel observations with data from other observatories creates a more complete picture of the dust in the galaxy. In the image, red indicates hydrogen gas; green indicates cold dust; and warmer dust is shown in blue. Launched in 1983, IRAS was the first space telescope to detect infrared light, setting the stage for future observatories like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. The Planck observatory, launched in 2009, and COBE, launched in 1989, both studied the cosmic microwave background, or light left over from the big bang. The hydrogen gas was detected using the Parkes Radio Telescope and the Australia Compact Telescope Array, located in Australia and managed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); and the NANTEN2 Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25164

This image of the Andromeda galaxy, or M31, includes data from the ESA (European Space Agency) Herschel mission, supplemented with data from ESA's retired Planck observatory and two retired NASA missions: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Operated from 2009 to 2013, Herschel detected wavelengths of light in the far-infrared and microwave ranges, and was ideal for studying dust in nearby galaxies because it could capture small-scale structures in the dust clouds in high resolution. However, Herschel often couldn't detect light from diffuse dust clouds – especially in the outer regions of galaxies, where the gas and dust become sparse and thus fainter. As a result, the mission missed up to 30% of all the light given off by dust. Combining the Herschel observations with data from other observatories creates a more complete picture of the dust in the galaxy. In the image, red indicates hydrogen gas; green indicates cold dust; and warmer dust is shown in blue. Launched in 1983, IRAS was the first space telescope to detect infrared light, setting the stage for future observatories like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. The Planck observatory, launched in 2009, and COBE, launched in 1989, both studied the cosmic microwave background, or light left over from the big bang. Red indicates hydrogen gas detected using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the Netherlands, and the Institute for Radio Astronomy in the Millimeter Range 30-meter telescope in Spain. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25163

This image of the Triangulum galaxy, or M33, includes data from the ESA (European Space Agency) Herschel mission, supplemented with data from ESA's retired Planck observatory and two retired NASA missions: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Operated from 2009 to 2013, Herschel detected wavelengths of light in the far-infrared and microwave ranges, and was ideal for studying dust in nearby galaxies because it could capture small-scale structures in the dust clouds in high resolution. However, Herschel often couldn't detect light from diffuse dust clouds – especially in the outer regions of galaxies, where the gas and dust become sparse and thus fainter. As a result, the mission missed up to 30% of all the light given off by dust. Combining the Herschel observations with data from other observatories creates a more complete picture of the dust in the galaxy. In the image, red indicates hydrogen gas; green indicates cold dust; and warmer dust is shown in blue. Launched in 1983, IRAS was the first space telescope to detect infrared light, setting the stage for future observatories like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. The Planck observatory, launched in 2009, and COBE, launched in 1989, both studied the cosmic microwave background, or light left over from the big bang. The hydrogen gas was detected using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico, and the Institute for Radio Astronomy in the Millimeter Range 30-meter telescope in Spain. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25165

This image of supernova remnant G54.1+0.3 includes radio, infrared and X-ray light. The saturated yellow point at the center of the image indicates strong X-ray source at the center of the supernova remnant. This is an incredibly dense object called a neutron star, which can form as a star runs out of fuel to keep it inflated, and the unsupported material collapses down on to the star's core. G54.1+0.3 contains a special type of neutron star called a pulsar, which emits particularly bright radio and X-ray emissions. The blue and green emissions show the presence of dust, including silica. The red hues correspond to radio data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array; green corresponds to 70 µm wavelength infrared light from the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory; blue corresponds to 24 µm wavelength infrared light from the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) instrument on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope; yellow corresponds to X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22569

Astronomers have for the first time caught a glimpse of the earliest stages of massive galaxy construction. The building site, dubbed “Sparky,” is a dense galactic core blazing with the light of millions of newborn stars that are forming at a ferocious rate. The discovery was made possible through combined observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, the W.M. Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory, in which NASA plays an important role. A fully developed elliptical galaxy is a gas-deficient gathering of ancient stars theorized to develop from the inside out, with a compact core marking its beginnings. Because the galactic core is so far away, the light of the forming galaxy that is observable from Earth was actually created 11 billion years ago, just 3 billion years after the Big Bang. Read more: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/1rAMSSr" rel="nofollow">1.usa.gov/1rAMSSr</a> Credit: NASA, Z. Levay, G. Bacon (STScI) <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Caption: Artist's view of night sky from a hypothetical planet within a young Milky Way-like galaxy 10 billion years ago, the sky are ablaze with star birth. Pink clouds of gas harbor newborn stars, and bluish-white, young star clusters litter the landscape. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Z. Levay (STScI) More info: In one of the most comprehensive multi-observatory galaxy surveys yet, astronomers find that galaxies like our Milky Way underwent a stellar “baby boom,” churning out stars at a prodigious rate, about 30 times faster than today. Our sun, however, is a late “boomer.” The Milky Way’s star-birthing frenzy peaked 10 billion years ago, but our sun was late for the party, not forming until roughly 5 billion years ago. By that time the star formation rate in our galaxy had plunged to a trickle. Missing the party, however, may not have been so bad. The sun’s late appearance may actually have fostered the growth of our solar system’s planets. Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were more abundant later in the star-forming boom as more massive stars ended their lives early and enriched the galaxy with material that served as the building blocks of planets and even life on Earth. Astronomers don’t have baby pictures of our Milky Way’s formative years to trace the history of stellar growth so they studied galaxies similar in mass to our Milky Way, found in deep surveys of the universe. The farther into the universe astronomers look, the further back in time they are seeing, because starlight from long ago is just arriving at Earth now. From those surveys, stretching back in time more than 10 billion years, researchers assembled an album of images containing nearly 2,000 snapshots of Milky Way-like galaxies. The new census provides the most complete picture yet of how galaxies like the Milky Way grew over the past 10 billion years into today’s majestic spiral galaxies. The multi-wavelength study spans ultraviolet to far-infrared light, combining observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory, and ground-based telescopes, including the Magellan Baade Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/our-sun-came-late-to-the-milky-way-s-star-birth-party/" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/our-sun-came-late-to-the-mil...</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>