Download Video
Video Information
Subscribe to Series
Invisible Galaxies Come to Life
This artist's animation demonstrates that an invisible galaxy shrouded in dust can become glaringly bright when viewed in infrared light. The movie begins with a visible-light view, showing a dark blob of a galaxy that is so shrouded in dust it appears invisible. The picture then transitions to what the same region of space might look like in infrared light. A galaxy appears out of the darkness, because its heated dust glows at infrared wavelengths.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope uncovered a hidden population of invisible galaxies like these using its highly sensitive infrared eyes. The dusty galaxies are among the brightest in the universe and are located 11 billion light-years away, back to a time when the universe was 3 billion years old. The universe is currently believed to be 13.5 billion years old.
Astronomers are not sure what is lighting up these cosmic behemoths, but they speculate that quasars -- the most luminous objects in the universe -- may be lurking inside.
Related Media
 |
News Release NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope Exposes Dusty Galactic Hideouts ssc2005-08 |
 |
Image Fingerprints in the Light ssc2005-08a |
|
Image Shimmering in Infrared Light ssc2005-08b |
 |
Video Invisible Galaxies Come to Life ssc2005-08v1 |
Most Popular Videos
Spitzer Podcasts
Browse Videos in Science Animations
Page
1
of
4
07.18.12 Flying Out to GJ 436 and its PlanetsStarting from Earth, we quickly zoom out of the solar system into our sun's local neighborhood, populated by the clos... |
05.08.12 Super Earth Reveals Itself to Spitzer (Narrated)NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a pl... |
05.08.12 Super Earth Reveals Itself to SpitzerNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a pl... |
10.19.10 Weird Warm Spot on ExoplanetThis animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telesc... |
10.19.10 Weird Warm Spot on Exoplanet (Narrated)This animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telesc... |
|
10.06.09 Saturn Family TourThis video showcases the Saturnian system, beginning with the planet itself and panning out to its newest addition --... |
|
08.10.09 Planetary Demolition DerbyThis artist's animation shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the siz... |
06.04.09 Silicate Crystal Formation in the Disk of an Erupting StarThis artist's animation illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst fr... |
06.04.09 Tour of Planet with Extreme Temperature SwingsThis animation shows a computer simulation of the planet HD 80606b from an observer located at a point in space lying... |
07.15.08 Zooming in on Second-Brightest Star in Milky WayThis movie zooms in to reveal the "Peony nebula" star -- the new second-brightest star in the Milky Way, discovered i... |
05.05.08 Dissecting a Light EchoThis animation illustrates how a light echo works, and how an optical illusion of material moving outward is created.... |
05.05.08 Cauldron of LightIn this animation, a seething cauldron of light appears to bubble and ooze around the remains of a giant star that as... |
11.29.07 Pulling Back the Curtain of DustThis artist's animation begins by showing a dark and dusty corner of space where little visible light can escape. The... |
05.09.07 Blacker than BlackThis artist's animation illustrates the hottest planet yet observed in the universe. The scorching ball of gas, a "ho... |
05.09.07 Mapping Exotic WorldsThis animation shows the first-ever map of the surface of an exoplanet, or a planet beyond our solar system. The map,... |
05.09.07 How to Map a Very Faraway PlanetScientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope were able to create the first-ever map of the surface of a planet bey... |
04.18.07 Highway to the Danger Zone"The further on the edge, the hotter the intensity," sings Kenny Loggins in "Danger Zone," a song made famous by the ... |
04.18.07 Infrared RoseThis movie begins by showing an optical image of the Rosette nebula, a turbulent star-forming region located 5,000 li... |
