Cygnus-X: the cool swan glowing in flight
Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 16:00
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) -- Chaotic networks of dust and gas signpost the next generations of massive stars in this stunning new image of the Cygnus-X star-nursery captured by ESAs Herschel space observatory. Cygnus-X is an extremely active region of massive-star birth some 4500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan.Using Herschels far-infrared eyes, astronomers can seek out regions where dust has been gently heated by stars, pointing them to dense clumps of gas where new generations of stars are forming.