Fiery First Stars
Ssc2005 22a

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/A. Kashlinsky (Goddard Space Flight Center)

Observation • November 2nd, 2005 • ssc2005-22a

ssc2005-22a

The top panel is an image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of stars and galaxies in the constellation Draco, covering about 50 by 100 million light-years (6 to 12 arcminutes). This is an infrared image showing wavelengths of 3.6 microns, below what the human eye can detect. The bottom panel is the resulting image after all the stars, galaxies and artifacts were masked out. The remaining background has been enhanced to reveal a glow that is not attributed to galaxies or stars. This might be the glow of the first stars in the universe.

About the Object

Name
Infrared background
Type
Cosmology > Morphology > Cosmic Background

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
Infrared 3.6 µm Spitzer IRAC