NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows a huge complex of star-forming clouds and stellar clusters found in the constellation Cygnus. Viewers can easily see the constellation Cygnus ("the swan") in the northern hemisphere’s summertime sky. The constellation also commonly goes by the name of the Northern Cross. WISE focuses on the region surrounding the swan’s heart, revealing vast clouds of dust that light up the sky in infrared. This image covers an area of the sky almost ten times as wide as the full moon and nine times as high.
The three nebulae in this image may appear close together, but in actuality they reside at different distances from the Earth. Nebula NGC 1491 glows on the right side of this WISE image, SH 2-209 sits on the left side and BFS 34 lies in between. NGC 1491 and BFS 34 are part of the same cloud complex at distance of about 10,700 light-years away in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. SH 2-209 lives farther away at about 16,000 light-years distance, located in the outer arm of the Milky Way.
When viewed in infrared light, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows a giant nebula around Lambda Orionis, inflating Orion's head to huge proportions.
The WISE team released 57 percent of the sky survey by WISE in this two-dimensional projection of the whole sky. The fuzzy line down the middle is our Milky Way galaxy.
WISE, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, took this picture of one of the closest star forming regions, a part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. It lies some 400 light-years from Earth. Dust clouds and embedded newborn stars glow at infrared wavelengths in the false-color composition.
A leggy cosmic creature, actually the "hiding galaxy" IC 342, comes out of hiding in this new infrared view from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. Full Story.
The Heart and Soul nebulae are seen in this infrared mosaic from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The image covers an area of the sky over ten times as wide as the full moon and eight times as high in the constellation Cassiopeia.
What looks like a jellyfish floating in a sea of kelp is actually a cloud of material shed by a massive star, in this new image from WISE. Full story Image
This artist's conception shows simulated data predicting the hundreds of failed stars, or brown dwarfs, that NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is expected to add to the population of known stars in our solar neighborhood. Our sun and other known stars appear white, yellow or red. Predicted brown dwarfs are deep red.
A new infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) showcases the Tadpole nebula, a star-forming hub in the Auriga constellation about 12,000 light-years from Earth. The asteroid, 1719 Jens, left, tracks across the image, seen as a line of yellow-green dots in the boxes near center. A second asteroid was also observed cruising by, as highlighted in the boxes near the upper left. Also, two satellites orbiting above WISE (highlighted in the ovals) streak through the image, appearing as faint green trails. Full Story
The southern Pinwheel Galaxy, or M83, shines in infrared in this new photo taken by NASA's WISE space observatory. Full Story.
This image shows the famous Pleiades cluster of stars as seen through the eyes of WISE, or NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The mosaic contains a few hundred image frames - just a fraction of the more than one million WISE captured during its first complete survey of the sky in infrared light.
A new image taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) shows the Rosette nebula located within the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn). This flower-shaped nebula is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our Milky Way galaxy, about 4,500-5,000 light-years away.
The green dot in the middle of this image is a dim star belonging to a class called brown dwarfs. NASA's WISE spacecraft snapped the image in infrared light.
An image of the Flaming Star Nebula, taken in infrared light by NASA's WISE space telescope.
This infrared image from NASA's WISE telescope shows the runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi as it creates a bright shockwave (yellow arc) in an interstellar dust cloud as it zooms through space.
This infrared image from NASA's WISE space telescope shows a cosmic rosebud blossoming with new stars, including the Berkeley 59 cluster and a supernova remnant. Read the full story.
This gallery showcases the first images taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Comet Siding Spring flashes across the sky impressively in this infrared image. Observers in Australia discovered the comet, also known as C/2007 Q3, in 2007.
This infrared image shows a star-forming cloud teeming with gas, dust and massive newborn stars. The inset shows detail of the very center of the cloud, a cluster of stars called NGC 3603 (taken in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope).
Our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, also goes by the names Messier 31 or M31. Here, it is captured in full in this new image by WISE.
This image from WISE displays the Andromeda galaxy's older stellar population in blue. The disk of the galaxy shows the aftermath of a collision with another galaxy, clear from the warp in the spiral arm at the upper left side.
This WISE image shows dust speckling the Andromeda galaxy's spiral arms. The hot dust, heated by newborn stars, outlines the thin arms to the center of the galaxy.
This dense cluster of galaxies, captured by WISE, is known as Fornax because of its location in a constellation of the same name. It lies 60 million light-years from Earth, and is one of the closest galaxy clusters to the Milky Way.
This artist’s rendering of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) shows the new NASA sky-mapper, which will scan the cosmos in infrared light better than any previous attempts.
Shortly after NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) ejected its cover, it took this infrared snapshot of a region in the constellation Carina near the Milky Way. It was released Jan. 6, 2010.
Supernova Cassiopeia A
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, streaks skyward in this infrared image of the launch on Dec. 14, 2009 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
This is a mosaic of the images covering the entire sky as observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), part of its All-Sky Data Release. Image released March 14, 2012.
Supernova Cassiopeia A is one of the brightest radio sources in the whole sky. More recently, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), detected infrared echoes of the flash of light rippling outwards from the supernova. Image released March 14, 2012.
Our cosmic backyard as seen from 30 light-years away. Red circles indicate the new WISE discoveries of brown dwarfs.
