Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is warm, but still working hard. After exhausting the last of its liquid helium cryogen the telescope has heated up to a temperature of about 30 degrees above absolute zerofrigid by Earth standards, but very warm for infrared instrumentation.

The warm temperatures do not stop Spitzer from continuing its science mission. The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) continues to operate quite effectively at 3.6 and 4.5 microns, allowing Spitzer to to continue observing the universe at these wavelengths.

The background image of the star-forming region RCW 40 is one example of the kind of imaging possible when using a warm Spitzer.