Star nursery in Cygnus the Swan constellation imaged by Herschel space telescope

A new image of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, highlights a nursery for new stars within a swirling mass of dust and gas that’s 4,500 light years away from Earth. The photo was produced by the European Space Agency’s Herschel space observatory, a combination of telescopic instruments that allow astronomers to view the universe in varied wavelengths.

Herschel_CygnusX_07052012_Annotated2.jpgView full sizeCygnus X, a region where new stars are forming in the Cygnus constellation, is the focus of this image from the European Space Agency's Herschel space telescope.

The new image is described in an ESA news release and on the Herschel web site. The active region of star birth, dubbed Cygnus-X, was viewed with Hershel’s far-infrared instrumentation, which spots region where dust is heated by neighboring stars, which then reveals dense clumps of gas that are the beginnings of new stars.

On the right side of the image, bright white areas highlight zones where large stars have recently formed.

In the center, radiation and stellar winds caused by stars that Herschel’s sensors can’t detect have partly cleared and heated interstellar material, which then glows blue.

To the left, a pillar of gas resembles the neck of a swan. Just below and to the right, a shell of gas and dust, likely from a supergiant star in its center.

Compact red objects that create a dotted string throughout the scene are colder seeds of future stars.

Herschel carries the largest telescope mirror ever launched into space, at 11 ½ feet across,, which collects infrared light for three instruments.

This image was largely produced using the satellite’s Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer, or PACS, which measures wavelengths up to about 205 microns. Data at 70 microns corresponds to the blue color, while 160 micron data corresponds to green.

The satellite’s Spectral and photometric Imaging Receiver, or SPIRE, measures wavelengths longer than 200 microns. In this image, the Spire data is at 250 microns, and shows up as red.

The image combines observations made on May 24, 2010 and Dec. 18, 2010.