Image: ESA's Planck satellite captures prominent ring of gas near the North Celestial Pole
Tuesday, June 21, 2016 - 05:31
in Astronomy & Space
This multicoloured swirl of yellow and blue shows a prominent ring of gas near the North Celestial Pole. The pole appears to be fixed in place, while the rest of the night sky slowly circles around it because of Earth's rotation. This image comes courtesy of ESA's Planck satellite, which spent years mapping the entire sky in exquisite detail between 2009 and 2013.