This image layout compares visible (left) and infrared views of the North America nebula, taken by the Digitized Sky Survey and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, respectively. The nebula is named after its resemblance to the North America content in visible light. This visible view highlights the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico regions. In infrared light, the continent disappears. The "Mexican Riviera" -- the west coast of Mexico -- seems to invert in texture and brightness, as does the "neck" region of the Pelican nebula, named for its resemblance to a pelican. This nebula can be seen to the right of the North America nebula in the visible image. The Gulf of Mexico transforms from a dark cloud into a "river" of hundreds of young stars. These pictures look different in part because infrared light can penetrate dust whereas visible light cannot. Dusty, dark clouds in the visible image become transparent in Spitzer's view. In addition, Spitzer's infrared detectors pick up the glow of dusty cocoons enveloping baby stars. The Spitzer image contains data from both its infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is blue-green; 5.8-micron and 8.0-micron light are green; and 24-micron light is red.

This swirling landscape of stars is known as the North America nebula. In visible light, the region resembles North America, but in this new infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the continent disappears. Where did the continent go? The reason you don't see it in Spitzer's view has to do, in part, with the fact that infrared light can penetrate dust whereas visible light cannot. Dusty, dark clouds in the visible image become transparent in Spitzer's view. In addition, Spitzer's infrared detectors pick up the glow of dusty cocoons enveloping baby stars. Clusters of young stars (about one million years old) can be found throughout the image. Slightly older but still very young stars (about three to five million years) are also liberally scattered across the complex, with concentrations near the "head" region of the Pelican nebula, which is located to the right of the North America nebula (upper right portion of this image). Some areas of this nebula are still very thick with dust and appear dark even in Spitzer's view. For example, the dark "river" in the lower left-center of the image -- in the Gulf of Mexico region -- are likely to be the youngest stars in the complex (less than a million years old). This image contains data taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera at wavelengths of 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 and 8.0 (red) microns.

This image layout reveals how the appearance of the North America nebula can change dramatically using different combinations of visible and infrared observations from the Digitized Sky Survey and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, respectively. In this progression, the visible-light view (upper left) shows a striking similarity to the North America continent. The image highlights the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico regions. The red region to the right is known as the "Pelican nebula," after its resemblance in visible light to a pelican. The view at upper right includes both visible and infrared observations. The hot gas comprising the North America continent and the Pelican now takes on a vivid blue hue, while red colors display the infrared light. Inky black dust features start to glow in the infrared view. In the bottom two images, only infrared light from Spitzer is shown -- data from the infrared array camera is on the left, and data from both the infrared array camera and the multiband imaging photometer, which sees longer wavelengths, is on the right. These pictures look different in part because infrared light can penetrate dust whereas visible light cannot. Dusty, dark clouds in the visible image become transparent in Spitzer's view. In addition, Spitzer's infrared detectors pick up the glow of dusty cocoons enveloping baby stars. Color is used to display different parts of the spectrum in each of these images. In the visible-light view (upper right) from the Digitized Sky Survey, colors are shown in their natural blue and red hues. The combined visible/infrared image (upper left) shows visible light as blue, and infrared light as green and red. The infrared array camera (lower left) represents light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns as blue, 4.5 microns as green, 5.8 microns as orange, and 8.0 microns as red. In the final image, incorporating the multiband imaging photometer data, light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color coded blue; 4.5-micron light is blue-green; 5.8-micron and 8.0-micron light are green; and 24-micron light is red.

Stars at all stages of development, from dusty little tots to young adults, are on display in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The cosmic community is called the North America nebula. In visible light, the region resembles the North America continent, with the most striking resemblance being the Gulf of Mexico. But in Spitzer's infrared view, the continent disappears. Instead, a swirling landscape of dust and young stars comes into view. This image focuses in on the Gulf of Mexico cluster of young stars. Several hundred young stars, seen here as the red dots, huddle together along their natal dark cloud -- what can be seen as the dark "river." In the main image, data from both the infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer are included, showing infrared wavelengths of 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8, and 24 microns. In the inset, only data from the infrared array camera are shown, including wavelengths of 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 microns. The inset highlights jets from young stars, seen as green streaks near the stars.

This image layout illustrates how NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was able to show that astandard candle" used to measure cosmological distances is shrinking -- a finding that affects precise measurements of the age, size and expansion rate of our universe. The image on the left, taken by Spitzer in infrared light, shows Delta Cephei, a type of standard candle used to measure the distances to galaxies that are relatively close to us. Cepheids like this one are the first rungs on the so-called cosmological distance ladder -- a tool needed to measure farther and farther distances. Spitzer showed that the star has a bow shock in front of it. This can be seen as the red arc shape to the left of the star, which is depicted in blue-green (the colors have been assigned to specific infrared wavelengths we can't see with our eyes). The presence of the bow shock told astronomers that Delta Cephei must have a wind that is forming the shock. This wind is made up of gas and dust blowing off the star. Before this finding, there was no direct proof that Cepheid stars could lose mass, or shrink. The finding is important because the loss of mass around a Cepheid can obscure the star's light, making it appear brighter in infrared observations, and dimmer in visible light, than it really is. This, in turn, affects calculations of how far away the star is. Even tiny inaccuracies in such distant measurements can cause the whole cosmological distance ladder to come unhinged. The diagram on the right illustrates how Delta Cephei's bow shock was formed. As the star speeds along through space, its wind hits interstellar gas and dust, causing it to pile up in the bow shock. A companion star to Delta Cephei, seen just below it, is lighting up the region, allowing Spitzer to better see the region. By examining the structure of the bow shock, astronomers were able to calculate how fast the star is losing mass. In this image, infrared light captured by the infrared array camera is blue and blue-green (3.6- and 4.5-micron light is blue and 8.0-micron light is blue-green). Infrared light captured by the multiband imaging photometer is colored green and red (24-micron light is green and 70-micron light is red).

NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope has detected buckyballs - intriguing, miniature-soccer-ball-shaped molecules - in interstellar space for the first time. With these new results, the buckyball claims the record for the largest molecule ever discovered floating between the stars. This artists conception shows buckyballs floating in interstellar space, near a region of current star-formation.

For the first time, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected little spheres of carbon, called buckyballs, in a galaxy beyond our Milky Way galaxy. The space balls were detected in a dying star, called a planetary nebula, within the nearby galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud. What's more, huge quantities were found -- the equivalent in mass to 15 of our moons. An infrared photo of the Small Magellanic Cloud taken by Spitzer is shown here in this artist's illustration, with two callouts. The middle callout shows a magnified view of an example of a planetary nebula, and the right callout shows an even further magnified depiction of buckyballs, which consist of 60 carbon atoms arranged like soccer balls. In July 2010, astronomers reported using Spitzer to find the first confirmed proof of buckyballs. Since then, Spitzer has detected the molecules again in our own galaxy -- as well as in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

This artist's concept illustrates a tight pair of stars and a surrounding disk of dust -- most likely the shattered remains of planetary smashups. Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the scientists found dusty evidence for such collisions around three sets of stellar twins (a class of stars called RS Canum Venaticorum's or RS CVns for short). The stars, which are similar to our sun in mass and age, orbit very closely around each other. They are separated by just two percent of the Earth-sun distance. As time goes by, the stars get closer and closer, and this causes the gravitational harmony in the systems to go out of whack. Comets and any planets orbiting around the stars could jostle about and collide.

This plot of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that a dusty planetary smashup probably occurred around a pair of tight twin, or binary, stars. The stars are similar to the sun in mass and age, but they orbit very closely around each other. With time, they get closer and closer, until the gravitational harmony in the system is thrown out of whack. Planetary bodies -- planets, asteroids and comets -- are thought to migrate out of their stable orbits, and smash together. Spitzer's cameras, which take pictures at different infrared wavelengths, observed the signatures of dust around three close binary systems. Data for one of those systems are shown here in orange. Models for the stars and a surrounding dusty disk are shown in yellow and red, respectively. The disk reveals that some sort of chaotic event -- probably a planetary collision -- must have generated the dusty disk.

This artist's concept illustrates an imminent planetary collision around a pair of double stars. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that such collisions could be common around a certain type of tight double, or binary, star system, referred to as RS Canum Venaticorums or RS CVns for short. The stars are similar to the sun in age and mass, but they orbit tightly around each other. With time, they are thought to get closer and closer, until their gravitational influences change, throwing the orbits of planetary bodies circling around them out of whack. Astronomers say that these types of systems could theoretically host habitable planets, or planets that orbit at the right distance from the star pairs to have temperatures that allow liquid water to exist. If so, then these worlds might not be so lucky. They might ultimately be destroyed in collisions like the impending one illustrated here, in which the larger body has begun to crack under the tidal stresses caused by the gravity of the approaching smaller one. Spitzer's infrared vision spotted dusty evidence for such collisions around three tight star pairs. In this artist concept's, dust from ongoing planetary collisions is shown circling the stellar duo in a giant disk.

Two extremely bright stars illuminate a greenish mist in this and other images from the new GLIMPSE360 survey. This fog is comprised of hydrogen and carbon compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are found right here on Earth in sooty vehicle exhaust and on charred grills. In space, PAHs form in the dark clouds that give rise to stars. These molecules provide astronomers a way to visualize the peripheries of gas clouds and study their structures in great detail. PAHs are not actually "green;" a representative color coding in these images lets scientists observe PAHs glow in the infrared light that Spitzer sees, and which is invisible to us. Strange streaks - likely dust grains that lined up with magnetic fields - distort the star in the top left. The fairly close, well-studied star GL 490 gleams in the middle right. The new GLIMPSE360 observations have revealed several small blobby outflows of gas from nearby forming stars, which indicate their youth. Such outflows are a great way to target really young, massive stars in their very earliest, hard-to-catch stages. This image is a combination of data from Spitzer and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). The Spitzer data was taken after Spitzer's liquid coolant ran dry in May 2009, marking the beginning of its "warm" mission. Light from Spitzer's remaining infrared channels at 3.6 and 4.5 microns has been represented in green and red, respectively. 2MASS 2.2 micron light is blue.

This image shows an outflow of gas from a new star as it jets from a space object dubbed IRAS 21078+5211, among other designations. The reddish blob in its center, as picked up by Spitzer's 4.5 micron infrared band, contrasts nicely with the green PAHs that surround it. These telltale outflow features of young, hulking stars show up well even without the longer wavelengths available to the original GLIMPSE survey that ran during the "cold" segment of Spitzer's mission. These so-called shocked outflows ram into the hydrogen gas around them and make it glow - a bright beacon in the lonely outskirts of the Milky Way. This image is a combination of data from Spitzer and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). The Spitzer data was taken after Spitzer's liquid coolant ran dry in May 2009, marking the beginning of its "warm" mission. Light from Spitzer's remaining infrared channels at 3.6 and 4.5 microns has been represented in green and red, respectively. 2MASS 2.2 micron light is blue.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has at last found buckyballs in space, as illustrated by this artist's conception showing the carbon balls coming out from the type of object where they were discovered -- a dying star and the material it sheds, known as a planetary nebula. Buckyballs are made up of 60 carbon atoms organized into spherical structures that resemble soccer balls. They also look like Buckminister Fuller's architectural domes, hence their official name of buckministerfullerenes. The molecules were first concocted in a lab nearly 25 years ago, and were theorized at that time to be floating around carbon-rich stars in space. But it wasn't until now that Spitzer, using its sensitive infrared vision, was able to find convincing signs of buckyballs. The telescope found the molecules -- as well as their elongated, rugby-ball-like relatives, called C70 -- in the material around a dying star, or planetary nebula, called Tc 1. The star at the center of Tc 1 was once similar to our sun but as it aged, it sloughed off its outer layers, leaving only a dense white-dwarf star. Astronomers believe buckyballs were created in shed layers of carbon that blew off the star. Tc 1 does not show up that well in images, so a picture of the NGC 2440 nebula, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, was used in this artist's conception.

Astronomers have obtained the first clear look at a dusty disk closely encircling a massive baby star, providing direct evidence that massive stars do form in the same way as their smaller brethren - and closing an enduring debate. This artist's concept shows what such a massive disk might look like. The flared disk extends to about 130 times the Earth-sun distance, and has a mass similar to that of the star, roughly twenty times the sun. The inner parts of the disk are shown to be devoid of dust.

This star-forming region, captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, is dominated by the bright, young star IRAS 13481-6124 (upper left), which is about twenty times the mass of our sun and five times its radius, and is surrounded by its pre-natal cocoon. It is the first massive baby star for which astronomers could obtain a detailed look at the dusty disk closely encircling it. The research provides direct evidence that massive stars do form in the same way as their smaller brethren. From this archival Spitzer image, as well as from observations done with the APEX 12-metre sub-millimetre telescope, astronomers discovered the presence of a jet, hinting at the presence of a disk. This was then confirmed by observations made with the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope Interferometer. This picture was taken with Spitzer's infrared array camera. It is a four-color composite, in which light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns is blue; 4.5-micron light is green; 5.8-micron light is orange; and 8-micron light is red. Dust appears red-orange and most stars are blue, though ones deeply embedded within dust (like IRAS 13481-6124) take on greenish-yellow tints.

A dragon-shaped cloud of dust seems to fly out from a bright explosion in this infrared light image from the Spitzer Space Telescope. These views have revealed that this dark cloud, called M17 SWex, is forming stars at a furious rate but has not yet spawned the most massive type of stars, known as O stars. Such stellar behemoths, however, light up the M17 nebula at the image's center and have also blown a huge "bubble" in the gas and dust that forms M17's luminous left edge. The stars and gas in this region are now passing though the Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way (moving from right to left), touching off a galactic "domino effect." The youngest episode of star formation is playing out inside the dusty dragon as it enters the spiral arm. Over time this area will flare up like the bright M17 nebula, glowing in the light of young, massive stars. The remnants of an older burst of star formation blew the bubble to the left. This is a three-color composite that shows infrared observations from two Spitzer instruments. Blue represents 3.6-micron light and green shows light of 8 microns, both captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Red is 24-micron light detected by Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer.

A dragon-shaped cloud of dust seems to fly out from a bright explosion in this infrared light image (top) from the Spitzer Space Telescope, a creature that is entirely cloaked in shadow when viewed in visible part of the spectrum (bottom). The infrared image has revealed that this dark cloud, called M17 SWex, is forming stars at a furious rate but has not yet spawned the most massive type of stars, known as O stars. Such stellar behemoths, however, light up the M17 nebula at the image's center and have also blown a huge "bubble" in the gas and dust that forms M17's luminous left edge. The stars and gas in this region are now passing though the Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way (moving from right to left), touching off a galactic "domino effect." The youngest episode of star formation is playing out inside the dusty dragon as it enters the spiral arm. Over time this area will flare up like the bright M17 nebula, glowing in the light of young, massive stars. The remnants of an older burst of star formation blew the bubble to the left. The visible-light view of the area clearly shows the bright M17 nebula, as well as the glowing hot gas filling the "bubble" to its left. However the M17 SWex "dragon" is hidden within dust clouds that are opaque to visible light. It takes an infrared view to catch the light from these shrouded regions and reveal the earliest stages of star formation. The top image is a three-color composite that shows infrared observations from two Spitzer instruments. Blue represents 3.6-micron light and green shows light of 8 microns, both captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Red is 24-micron light detected by Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer. The bottom visible light image is a composite of visible light data from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) from the UK Schmidt telescope. The image combines two observations that represent the blue and red light from the region.

This visible-light view of the sky highlights the bright M17 nebula, as well as the glowing hot gas filling the "bubble" to its left. While young, hot stars illuminate these regions, the large dark swath to the right hides an extensive region of star formation that can only be seen outside of the visible spectrum. Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have seen, in infrared light, that this dark area is forming stars at a furious rate but has not yet spawned the most massive type of stars, known as O stars. Such stellar behemoths, however, light up the M17 nebula at the image's center and have also blown a huge "bubble" in the gas and dust that forms M17's luminous left edge. This image is a composite of visible light data from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) from the UK Schmidt telescope. The image combines two observations that represent the blue and red light from the region.

A dragon-shaped cloud of dust seems to fly out from a bright explosion in this infrared light image from the Spitzer Space Telescope. These views have revealed that this dark cloud, called M17 SWex, is forming stars at a furious rate but has not yet spawned the most massive type of stars, known as O stars. Such stellar behemoths, however, light up the M17 nebula at the image's center and have also blown a huge "bubble" in the gas and dust in M17 EB. The stars and gas in this region are now passing though the Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way (moving from right to left), touching off a galactic "domino effect." The youngest episode of star formation is playing out inside the dusty dragon as it enters the spiral arm. Over time this area will flare up like the bright M17 nebula, glowing in the light of young, massive stars. The remnants of an older burst of star formation blew the bubble in M17 EB to the left. This is a three-color composite that shows infrared observations from two Spitzer instruments. Blue represents 3.6-micron light and green shows light of 8 microns, both captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Red is 24-micron light detected by Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer.

This image shows what astronomers think is one of the coldest brown dwarfs discovered so far (red dot in middle of frame). The object, called SDWFS J143524.44+335334.6, is one of 14 such brown dwarfs found by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope using infrared light. Follow-up observations are required to nail down this "failed" star's temperature, but rough estimates put this particular object at about 700 Kelvin (800 degrees Fahrenheit). In this image, infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns is color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is red. The brown dwarf shows up prominently in red because methane is absorbing the 3.6-micron, or blue-coded, light.

This artist's conception shows simulated data predicting the hundreds of failed stars, or brown dwarfs, that NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is expected to add to the population of known stars in our solar neighborhood. Our sun and other known stars appear white, yellow or red. Predicted brown dwarfs are deep red. The green pyramid represents the volume surveyed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope -- an infrared telescope designed to focus on targeted areas in depth, rather than to scan the whole sky as WISE is doing. Spitzer found 14 of the coolest known brown dwarfs in this region, which is one-fourtieth the volume that WISE is combing. Astronomers think WISE will find hundreds of these cool orbs within 25 light-years from the sun (a region marked by the blue sphere).

New evidence from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is showing that tight-knit twin stars might be triggered to form by asymmetrical envelopes like the ones shown in this image. All stars, even single ones like our sun, are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, called envelopes, which are seen here around six forming star systems as dark blobs, or shadows, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the envelopes. The envelopes are all roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. Two of the six star systems are known to have already formed twin, or binary stars (Spitzer can see the envelopes but not the stars themselves). Astronomers believe that the irregular shapes of the envelopes, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might trigger binary stars to form, or might have already triggered them to form. From top left, moving clockwise, the stars are: IRAS 03282+3035, CB230, IRAS 16253-2429, L1152, L483, HH270 VLA1. IRAS 03282+3035 and CB230 are the two known to have already formed binary stars. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is green; and 8.0-micron light is red.

A young protostar and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might have triggered the formation of twin, or binary stars in this system. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is green; and 8.0-micron light is red.

A young protostar and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might have triggered the formation of twin, or binary stars in this system. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is green; and 8.0-micron light is red.

A young protostar and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might have triggered the formation of twin, or binary stars in this system. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is green; and 8.0-micron light is red.

A young protostar and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might have triggered the formation of twin, or binary stars in this system. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded green and 8.0-micron light is red. Ground-based observations at 2.2 microns from the Hiltner 2.4m telescope at MDM Observatory is red.

A young protostar and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. This star system is known to have already formed twin, or binary stars (Spitzer can see the envelope but not the stars themselves). Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might have triggered the binary star to form. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is green; and 8.0-micron light is red.

A young protostar and its signature outflow peeks out through a shroud of dust in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Stars are known to form from collapsing clumps of gas and dust, or envelopes, seen here around a forming star system as a dark blob, or shadow, against a dusty background. The greenish color shows jets coming away from the young star within. The envelope is roughly 100 times the size of our solar system. This star system is known to have already formed twin, or binary stars (Spitzer can see the envelope but not the stars themselves). Astronomers believe that the irregular shape of the envelope, revealed in detail by Spitzer, might have triggered the binary star to form. Infrared light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is green; and 8.0-micron light is red.

This artist's conception illustrates one of the most primitive supermassive black holes known (central black dot) at the core of a young, star-rich galaxy. Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have uncovered two of these early objects, dating back to about 13 billion years ago. The monstrous black holes are among the most distant known, and appear to be in the very earliest stages of formation, earlier than any observed so far. Unlike all other supermassive black holes probed to date, this primitive duo, called J0005-0006 and J0303-0019, lacks dust. As the drawing shows, gas swirls around a black hole in what is called an accretion disk. Usually, the accretion disk is surrounded by a dark doughnut-like dusty structure called a dust torus. But for the primitive black holes, the dust tori are missing and only gas disks are observed. This is because the early universe was clean as a whistle. Enough time had not passed for molecules to clump together into dust particles. Some black holes forming in this era thus started out lacking dust. As they grew, gobbling up more and more mass, they are thought to have accumulated dusty rings. This illustration also shows how supermassive black holes can distort space and light around them (see warped stars behind black hole). Stars from the galaxy can be seen sprinkled throughout, and distant mergers between other galaxies are illustrated in the background.

These two data plots from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show a primitive supermassive black hole (top) compared to a typical one. As the data show, the typical supermassive black hole, called J0842+1218, exhibits the signs of a surrounding ring of dust, a feature that appears at longer wavelengths of infrared light. The primitive object, called J0005-0006, lacks a dusty torus. These Spitzer data, along with other observations not shown here, led to the discovery of the two most primitive supermassive black holes known, J0005-0006 and J0303-0019. Both objects are about 13 billion light-years away. Usually, a supermassive black hole is surrounded by an accretion disk, which itself is surrounded by a dark doughnut-like dusty structure called a dust torus. But for the primitive black holes, the dust tori are missing and only gas disks are observed. This is because the early universe was clean as a whistle. Enough time had not passed for molecules to clump together into dust particles. Some black holes forming during this era thus started out lacking dust. As they grew, gobbling up more and more mass, they are thought to have accumulated dusty rings.