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A Shocking Outflow Space Wallpaper

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A Shocking Outflow
This image shows an outflow of gas from a new star as it jets from a space object dubbed IRAS 21078+5211. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

This cool space wallpaper shows an outflow of gas from a new star as it jets from a space object dubbed IRAS 21078+5211. The reddish blob in its center, as picked up by the 4.5-micron infrared band on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, contrasts nicely with the clouds, colored green here, that surround it. These so - called shocked outflows ram into the hydrogen gas around them and make it glow -- a bright beacon in the lonely outskirts of the Milky Way.

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Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.