February 17, 2010: NASA releases the first images from its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). WISE’s primary mission is to survey the entire sky in infrared, though it’s also tasked with tracking asteroids, comets, and other objects.
Here, a star-forming cloud is shown teeming with gas, dust and massive newborn stars. The inset was taken in visible light by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and reveals the cloud’s center, a cluster of stars called NGC 3603.
NASA
WISE captures light seen by the longest-wavelength infrared detectors, highlighting the dust on the Andromeda galaxy’s spiral arms.
NASA
The Comet Sliding Spring, first discovered in 2007 by observers in Australia, streaks across the sky.
NASA
The shortest-wavelength camera on WISE highlights the Andromeda galaxy’s older stellar population in blue.
NASA
The galaxy cluster Fornax, which is located 60 million light-years from Earth.
NASA
WISE captures the Andromeda Galaxy using all four of its infrared detectors. The mosaic covers an area equivalent to more than 100 full moons, or five degrees across the sky.
NASA
