This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) shows an emission nebula known as IC 417.
This infrared image shows IC 417, an emission nebula that is energized by hot, massive blue stars. A cluster of young stars called ‘Stock 8’ can be seen at center right; the light from this cluster carves out a bowl in the nearby dust clouds, seen here as green fluff. Along the sinuous tail in the center and to the left, groupings of red point sources are also young stars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / 2MASS.
Informally known as the Spider Nebula, IC 417 lies around 10,000 light-years from us in the constellation Auriga.
It is in the outer part of our Milky Way Galaxy, almost exactly in the opposite direction from the Galactic center.
One of the largest clusters of young stars in IC 417 can be seen easily in the image.
Toward the right of center, against the black background of space, one can see a bright group of stars called ‘Stock 8.’
The light from this star cluster carves out a bowl in the nearby dust clouds, seen in the image as green fluff.
Along the sinuous tail in the center, and to the left, the groupings of red point sources clumped in the green are also young stars.
In this image, infrared wavelengths, which are invisible to the unaided eye, have been assigned visible colors.
Light with a wavelength of 1.2 microns, detected by 2MASS, is shown in blue.
The Spitzer wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns are green and red, respectively.
