Reflection Nebula IC 348 in Perseus (infrared view) | NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Reflection Nebula IC 348 in Perseus (infrared view) | NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

IC 348 is a star-forming region in the constellation Perseus located about 1,000 light years from the Sun. In regions like IC 348, cold clouds of molecular hydrogen gas collapse to form new stars, creating glowing, sculpted scenes like this one. The star-formation process can create impressively varied objects, from massive stars that expire after only a few million years in core-collapse supernova explosions to the smallest and most common stars that are long lived and produce powerful stellar storms.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope that was active between 2003 and 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, following IRAS (1983) and ISO (1995–1998). It was the first spacecraft to use an Earth-trailing orbit, later used by the Kepler planet-finder telescope.

Learn more about Spitzer:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spitzer-space-telescope/

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Cieza (University of Texas at Austin)
Release Date: Oct. 25, 2006

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