Image sig06-026

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Image Gallery > Astronomical Images > Star Formation > sig06-026

NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Cieza (UT Austin)

Seeing Stars in Serpens

Infant stars are glowing gloriously in this infrared image of the Serpens star-forming region, captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

The reddish-pink dots are baby stars deeply embedded in the cosmic cloud of gas and dust that collapsed to create it. A dusty disk of cosmic debris, or "protoplanetary disk," that may eventually form planets, surrounds the infant stars.

Wisps of green throughout the image indicate the presence of carbon rich molecules called, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). On Earth, PAHs can be found on charred barbecue grills and in automobile exhaust. Blue specks sprinkled throughout the image are background stars in our Milky Way Galaxy.

The Serpens star-forming region is located approximately 848 light-years away in the Serpens constellation.

The image is a three-channel false-color composite, where emission at 4.5 microns is blue, emission at 8.0 microns is green, and 24 micron emission is red.

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About the Object (1)
Object name: Serpens Cluster A
Object type: Young Stellar Cluster
Position (J2000): RA: 18h 30m 30.00s Dec: 1° 12' 0.00"
Distance: 260 pc, 848 light-years
Constellation: Serpens

About the Data

Spitzer Data

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Cieza (UT Austin)
Instrument: IRAC + MIPS
Wavelength: 4.5, 8.0 and 24 microns
Exposure Date: IRAC= April 5th, 2004, MIPS= April 6th, 2004
Exposure Time: IRAC= 2*0.4 sec + 4*10.4 sec, MIPS=30 sec.
Image scale: 30'x25'
Orientation: Up is 96 degs to the West of North.
Release Date: 2006/10/24

Observers

Lucas Cieza (University of Texas at Austin)
Neal Evans (University of Texas at Austin)
Giovanni Fazio (Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Paul Harvey (University of Texas at Austin)
Ewine Van Dischoeck (Sterrewacht Leiden, Netherlands)

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