A new video from the ESA’s Herschel space observatory shows, in epic detail, patterns of gas, dust and soon-to-be stars scattered along the Milky Way.
Among the clouds of cosmic dust and smoky gases, a series of bright bursts “mark the spots where stars are being born among the galaxy”, the European Space Agency explains.
The 10-minute panorama video is a compilation of hundreds of hours of observations captured by Herschel, spanning almost 40 percent of the Milky Way plane - “where most of the stars in the Galaxy form and reside”.
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The orange and red patterns represent dense portions of gas and dust, while the tiny white spots are even denser forms of “the interstellar medium”, which are the seeds of future stars.
Meanwhile, the bright blue bursts of color represent the powerful light emitted by newborn stars in the final stage of their evolution.
The Herschel Space Observatory is a huge infrared space telescope operated by the ESA to study the universe in high detail.