DISCOVERIESSPACE
Looking back
at Spitzer’s
greatest hits
On 30 January 2020, NASA’s Spitzer Space
Telescope was retired from orbital operations.
Since its launch in August 2003, Spitzer’s sensitive
infrared instruments have enabled it to study
cold, dusty and distant objects in unprecedented
detail. Here are some of its best images...
1- This view of the North 2
America Nebula was made by
combining images created
using visible light (blue) and
infrared (red and green). It
shows clusters of young stars
aged between one and five
million years old. - The spiral galaxy Messier 81
is located 12 million light-years
from Earth in the northern
constellation of Ursa Major,
which also includes the Plough.
It is easily visible through a pair
of good binoculars. This image
has been specially processed to
isolate the distribution of dust
throughout. The dust particles
are composed of silicates –
chemicals that are similar to
the sand you’d find on a beach. - The eye-like Helix Nebula is
located about 700 light-years
from Earth. It is a planetary
nebula – an expanding shell of
ionised gas that is created
when the internal fuel supply
of a Sun-like star runs out,
leaving the outer layers to pu
out. The Sun will follow a
similar fate in about five
billion years.- This image shows Messier
106, also known as NGC 4258,
a spiral galaxy located 23
million light-years away from
Earth. It was first discovered by
the French astronomer Pierre
Méchain in 1781. - The giant star Zeta Ophiuchi
is 20 times more massive and
80,000 times brighter than the
Sun. It has a huge shock wave at
its fore, created by raging winds
that ow from it. This infrared
image shows its vast scale. NASA/SPITZER X5