Each of these panels shows 60 degrees of Spitzer's new 360-degree infrared view of our Milky Way Galaxy. The full 360-degree mosaic comes primarily from the GLIMPSE360 project, which stands for Galactic Legacy Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire. It consists of more than 2 million snapshots taken in infrared light over ten years, beginning in 2003 when Spitzer launched. This infrared view reveals much more of the galaxy than can be seen in visible-light views. Whereas visible light is blocked by dust, infrared light from stars and other objects can travel through dust to reach Spitzer's detectors. For instance, when looking up at our night skies, we see stars that are an average of 1,000 light-years away; the rest are hidden. In Spitzer's mosaic, light from stars throughout the galaxy -- which stretches 100,000 light-years across -- shines through. The full 360-degree picture covers only about three percent of the sky, but includes more than half of the galaxy's stars and the majority of its star formation activity. Blue stars seen in these images are relatively close to us, while the red color shows dusty areas of star formation. Throughout the galaxy, tendrils, bubbles and sculpted dust structures are apparent. These are the result of massive stars blasting out winds and radiation. Stellar clusters deeply embedded in gas and dust, green jets and other features related to the formation of young stars can also be seen for the first time. Dark filaments that show up in stark contrast to the bright background are areas of thick, cold dust that not even infrared light can penetrate. This panel shows the Galactic Center, stretching from 330 to 30 degrees in galactic longitude, covering the constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpius. The blue haze that permeates this image is starlight from mature stars, which are packed together so densely that we cannot pick them out individually. For the full resolution view of this image, see http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/glimpse360/downloads. (Warning: these files are very large - approximately 600mb - 1gb each)

Each of these panels shows 60 degrees of Spitzer's new 360-degree infrared view of our Milky Way Galaxy. The full 360-degree mosaic comes primarily from the GLIMPSE360 project, which stands for Galactic Legacy Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire. It consists of more than 2 million snapshots taken in infrared light over ten years, beginning in 2003 when Spitzer launched. This infrared view reveals much more of the galaxy than can be seen in visible-light views. Whereas visible light is blocked by dust, infrared light from stars and other objects can travel through dust to reach Spitzer's detectors. For instance, when looking up at our night skies, we see stars that are an average of 1,000 light-years away; the rest are hidden. In Spitzer's mosaic, light from stars throughout the galaxy -- which stretches 100,000 light-years across -- shines through. The full 360-degree picture covers only about three percent of the sky, but includes more than half of the galaxy's stars and the majority of its star formation activity. Blue stars seen in these images are relatively close to us, while the red color shows dusty areas of star formation. Throughout the galaxy, tendrils, bubbles and sculpted dust structures are apparent. These are the result of massive stars blasting out winds and radiation. Stellar clusters deeply embedded in gas and dust, green jets and other features related to the formation of young stars can also be seen for the first time. Dark filaments that show up in stark contrast to the bright background are areas of thick, cold dust that not even infrared light can penetrate. For the full resolution view of this image, see http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/glimpse360/downloads. (Warning: these files are very large - approximately 600mb - 1gb each)

Magnetic loops carry gas and dust above disks of planet-forming material circling stars, as shown in this artist's conception. These loops give off extra heat, which NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detects as infrared light. The colors in this illustration show what an alien observer with eyes sensitive to both visible light and infrared wavelengths might see.

The supernova SN 2014J is seen in this image near its peak brightness in the first week of February 2014. It appears as a faint star to the lower right of the central region of its host galaxy M82. The new supernova is of a particular kind known as a Type Ia. This type of supernova results in the complete destruction of a white dwarf star-the small, dense, aged remnant of a typical star like our Sun. Two scenarios are theorized to give rise to Type Ia supernovas: In a binary star system, a white dwarf gravitationally pulls in matter from its companion star, accruing mass until the white dwarf crosses a critical threshold and blows up. Alternatively, two white dwarfs in a binary system spiral inward toward each other and eventually explosively collide. Studying SN 2014J will help with understanding the processes behind Type Ia detonations to further refine theoretical models. In the image, light from Spitzer's infrared channels are colored blue at 3.6 microns and green at 4.5 microns.

The closest supernova of its kind to be observed in the last few decades has sparked a global observing campaign involving legions of instruments on the ground and in space, including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Dust in the supernova's host galaxy M82, also called the "Cigar galaxy," partially obscures observations in optical and high-energy forms of light. The infrared light that Spitzer sees in, however, can pass through this dust, allowing astronomers to peer directly into the heart of the aftermath of the stellar explosion. This image shows Spitzer's view of M82 on three separate dates: May 9, 2005; February 7, 2014; and February 12, 2014. The observations from February 7 reveal the presence of a bright spot -- the supernova -- not present in the prior observations. By February 12, the supernova has started to dim somewhat from its peak brightness in the first week of February. The supernova, dubbed SN 2014J, was first spotted by human observers on January 21, 2014. SN 2014J is glowing very brightly in the infrared light that Spitzer sees. The telescope was able to observe the supernova before and after it reached its peak brightness. Such early observations with an infrared telescope have only been obtained for a few Type Ia supernovas in the past. Researchers are currently using the data to learn more about how these explosions occur. In the image, light from Spitzer's infrared channels are colored blue at 3.6 microns and green at 4.5 microns.

This image shows M82, also known as the "Cigar galaxy," in infrared light, as observed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope back in 2005. Long-wavelength, infrared light can pass through the cosmic dust that obscures the visible light our eyes see, as well as other short wavelength light, such as ultraviolet. With its dust-piercing, infrared vision, Spitzer therefore allows astronomers to see into and thus better understand otherwise hidden phenomena. Astronomers discovered in early 2014 that a supernova had exploded in a particularly dusty region of M82. Spitzer has since taken a series of observations of the region. The telescope is collecting valuable data by being able to peer directly into the heart of the aftermath of the stellar explosion. In the image, light from Spitzer's infrared channels are colored blue at 3.6 microns and green at 4.5 microns.

Roguish runaway stars can have a big impact on their surroundings as they plunge through the Milky Way galaxy. Their high-speed encounters shock the galaxy, creating arcs, as seen in this newly released image from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. In this case, the speedster star is known as Kappa Cassiopeiae, or HD 2905 to astronomers. It is a massive, hot supergiant. But what really makes the star stand out in this image is the surrounding, streaky red glow of material in its path. Such structures are called bow shocks, and they can often be seen in front of the fastest, most massive stars in the galaxy. Bow shocks form where the magnetic fields and wind of particles flowing off a star collide with the diffuse, and usually invisible, gas and dust that fill the space between stars. How these shocks light up tells astronomers about the conditions around the star and in space. Slow-moving stars like our sun have bow shocks that are nearly invisible at all wavelengths of light, but fast stars like Kappa Cassiopeiae create shocks that can be seen by Spitzers infrared detectors. Incredibly, this shock is created about 4 light-years ahead of Kappa Cassiopeiae, showing what a sizable impact this star has on its surroundings. (This is about the same distance that we are from Proxima Centauri, the nearest star beyond the sun.) The Kappa Cassiopeiae bow shock shows up as a vividly red color. The faint green features in this image result from carbon molecules, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in dust clouds along the line of sight that are illuminated by starlight. Delicate red filaments run through this infrared nebula, crossing the bow shock. Some astronomers have suggested these filaments may be tracing out features of the magnetic field that runs throughout our galaxy. Since magnetic fields are completely invisible themselves, we rely on chance encounters like this to reveal a little of their structure as they interact with the surrounding dust and gas. Kappa Cassiopeiae is visible to the naked eye in the Cassiopeia constellation (but its bow shock only shows up in infrared light.) For this Spitzer image, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns is rendered in blue, 8.0 microns in green, and 24 microns in red.

This graphic shows the evolutionary sequence in the growth of massive elliptical galaxies over 13 billion years, as gleaned from space-based and ground-based telescopic observations. The growth of this class of galaxies is quickly driven by rapid star formation and mergers with other galaxies.

Aren Heinze describes storms on cool stars, inferred from observations with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Heinze presented his results at the January 2014 meeting of the American Astronomical Society in National Harbor, MD.

This artist's concept shows what the weather might look like on cool star-like bodies known as brown dwarfs. These giant balls of gas start out life like stars, but lack the mass to sustain nuclear fusion at their cores, and instead, fade and cool with time. New research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggests that most brown dwarfs are racked with colossal storms akin to Jupiter's famous "Great Red Spot." These storms may be marked by fierce winds, and possibly lightning. The turbulent clouds might also rain down molten iron, hot sand or salts -- materials thought to make up the cloud layers of brown dwarfs.

The collection of red dots seen near the center of this image show one of several very distant galaxy clusters discovered by combining ground-based optical data from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's Kitt Peak National Observatory with infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This galaxy cluster, named ISCS J1434.7+3519, is located about 9 billion light-years from Earth. The large white and yellow dots in this picture are stars in our galaxy, while the rest of the smaller dots are distant galaxies. The cluster, comprised of red dots near the center, includes more than 100 massive galaxies. Spitzer was able to capture prodigious levels of star formation occurring in the galaxies that live in this cluster. Some of them are forming stars hundreds of times faster than our own Milky Way galaxy. Infrared light in this image has been colored red; and visible light, blue and green.

What might look like a colossal jet shooting away from a galaxy turns out to be an illusion. New data from the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), combined with an infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals two galaxies, one lying behind the other, that had been masquerading as one. In a new image highlighting the chance alignment, radio data from the VLA are magenta and infrared observations from Spitzer are blue. The closer galaxy, called UGC 10288, is located 100 million light-years away. It is spiral in shape, but from our viewpoint on Earth, we are seeing its thin edge. Infrared observations of such edge-on galaxies penetrate the thick clouds of dust that wrap through the spiral arms and block visible light views. The bright glow of dense starfields that run along the galaxy's central plane, and in its core, are easily seen. The farther galaxy, seen in magenta, is nearly 7 billion light-years away. Two giant jets shoot away from this galaxy, one of which is seen above the plane of the closer galaxy's disk, while the other is hidden behind it. A second distant radio galaxy can be seen as a magenta dot further to the right. Earlier images of the two galaxies appeared as one fuzzy blob, and fooled astronomers into thinking they were looking at one galaxy. Thanks to the VLA pulling the curtain back, revealing the chance alignment, the scientists have a unique opportunity to learn otherwise-unobtainable facts about the nearer galaxy. This image was taken after Spitzer's liquid coolant ran dry in May 2009, marking the beginning of its "warm" mission. Light from the telescope's remaining infrared channels are colored blue at 3.6 microns and green at 4.5 microns. 7.3 cm radio light from the VLA is magenta.

The thin edge of a distant spiral galaxy appears in sharp relief in the new image from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. Infrared light gives astronomers a unique way of seeing the distribution of stars in such well-aligned galaxies. This galaxy, called UGC 10288, is located 100 million light-years away. It is spiral in shape, but from our viewpoint on Earth, we are seeing its thin edge. Infrared observations of such edge-on galaxies penetrate the thick clouds of dust that wrap through the spiral arms and block visible light views. The bright glow of dense starfields that run along the galaxy's central plane, and in its core, are easily seen. This image was taken after Spitzer's liquid coolant ran dry in May 2009, marking the beginning of its "warm" mission. Light from the telescope's remaining infrared channels are colored blue at 3.6 microns and green at 4.5 microns.

Combined observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the newly completed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile have revealed the throes of stellar birth, as never before, in the well-studied object known as HH 46/47. Herbig-Haro (HH) objects form when jets shot out by newborn stars collide with surrounding material, producing small, bright, nebulous regions. To our eyes, the dynamics within many HH objects are obscured by enveloping gas and dust. But the infrared and submillimeter light seen by Spitzer and ALMA, respectively, pierces the dark cosmic cloud around HH 46/47 to let us in on the action. (Infrared light has longer wavelengths than what we see with our eyes, and submillimeter light has even longer wavelengths.) In this image, the shorter-wavelength light appears blue and longer-wavelength light, red. Blue shows gas energized by the outflowing jets. The green colors trace a combination of hydrogen gas molecules and dust that follows the boundary of the gas cloud cocooning the young star. The reddish-colored areas, created by excited carbon monoxide gas, reveal that the gas in the two lobes blown out by the star's jets is expanding faster than previously thought. This faster expansion has an influence on the overall amount of turbulence in the gaseous cloud that originally spawned the star. In turn, the extra turbulence could have an impact on whether and how other stars might form in this gaseous, dusty, and thus fertile, ground for star-making.

This planetary nebula, known as NGC 650 or the Little Dumbbell, is about 2,500 light-years from Earth in the Perseus constellation. Unlike the other spherical nebulas, it has a bipolar or butterfly shape due to a "waist," or disk, of thick material, running from lower left to upper right. Fast winds blow material away from the star, above and below this dusty disk. The ghoulish green and red clouds are from glowing hydrogen molecules, with the green area being hotter than the red. In this image, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6 microns is rendered in blue, 4.5 microns in green, and 8.0 microns in red.

The Ghost of Jupiter, also known as NGC 3242, is located roughly 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Hydra. Spitzer's infrared view shows off the cooler outer halo of the dying star, colored here in red. Also evident are concentric rings around the object, the result of material being periodically tossed out in the star's final death throes. In this image, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6 microns is rendered in blue, 4.5 microns in green, and 8.0 microns in red.

This trio of ghostly images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the disembodied remains of dying stars called planetary nebulas. Planetary nebulas are a late stage in a sun-like star's life, when its outer layers have sloughed off and are lit up by ultraviolet light from the central star. They come in a variety of shapes, as indicated by these three spooky structures. In all of the images, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6 microns is rendered in blue, 4.5 microns in green, and 8.0 microns in red. Exposed Cranium Nebula (left) The brain-like orb called PMR 1 has been nicknamed the "Exposed Cranium" nebula by Spitzer scientists. This planetary nebula, located roughly 5,000 light-years away in the Vela constellation, is host to a hot, massive dying star that is rapidly disintegrating, losing its mass. The nebula's insides, which appear mushy and red in this view, are made up primarily of ionized gas, while the outer green shell is cooler, consisting of glowing hydrogen molecules. Ghost of Jupiter Nebula (middle) The Ghost of Jupiter, also known as NGC 3242, is located roughly 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Hydra. Spitzer's infrared view shows off the cooler outer halo of the dying star, colored here in red. Also evident are concentric rings around the object, the result of material being periodically tossed out in the star's final death throes. Little Dumbbell Nebula (right) This planetary nebula, known as NGC 650 or the Little Dumbbell, is about 2,500 light-years from Earth in the Perseus constellation. Unlike the other spherical nebulas, it has a bipolar or butterfly shape due to a "waist," or disk, of thick material, running from lower left to upper right. Fast winds blow material away from the star, above and below this dusty disk. The ghoulish green and red clouds are from glowing hydrogen molecules, with the green area being hotter than the red.

The brain-like orb called PMR 1 has been nicknamed the "Exposed Cranium" nebula by Spitzer scientists. This planetary nebula, located roughly 5,000 light-years away in the Vela constellation, is host to a hot, massive dying star that is rapidly disintegrating, losing its mass. The nebula's insides, which appear mushy and red in this view, are made up primarily of ionized gas, while the outer green shell is cooler, consisting of glowing hydrogen molecules. In this image, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6 microns is rendered in blue, 4.5 microns in green, and 8.0 microns in red.

Kepler-7b (left), which is 1.5 times the radius of Jupiter (right), is the first exoplanet to have its clouds mapped. The cloud map was produced using data from NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes. The map shows that clouds cover the western side of the gaseous planet, leaving the east cloud-free. Researchers speculate the clouds are made up of minerals containing silicates. Kepler-7b is one of the puffiest, or least dense, planets known. While it is 1.5 times the size of Jupiter is has only about half the mass.

Over its ten years in space, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has evolved into a premier tool for studying exoplanets. The engineers and scientists behind Spitzer did not have this goal in mind when they designed the observatory back in the 1990s. But thanks to its extraordinary stability, and a series of engineering reworks after launch, Spitzer now has observational powers far beyond its original limits and expectations. This artist's concept shows Spitzer surrounded by examples of exoplanets the telescope has examined.

With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that what was thought to be a large asteroid called Don Quixote is in fact a comet. The left image shows Don Quixote's coma and tail -- features of comets -- as revealed in infrared light by Spitzer. The coma appears as a faint glow around the center of the body, caused by dust and gas. The tail, which appears more clearly in the right image, points towards the right-hand side of Don Quixote, into the direction opposite of the sun. The right image represents a more elaborate image processing step, in which the glow of the coma has been removed based on a model comet coma. Bright speckles around Don Quixote are background stars; the horizontal bar covers image artifacts caused by the image processing.

With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that what was thought to be a large asteroid called Don Quixote is in fact a comet. Don Quixote's coma and tail -- features of comets -- as revealed in infrared light by Spitzer. The coma appears as a faint glow around the center of the body, caused by dust and gas. The tail points towards the right-hand side of Don Quixote, into the direction opposite of the sun.

With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that what was thought to be a large asteroid called Don Quixote is in fact a comet. This image represents a more elaborate image processing step, in which the glow of the coma has been removed based on a model comet coma. Bright speckles around Don Quixote are background stars; the horizontal bar covers image artifacts caused by the image processing.

This artist's conception portrays a free-floating brown dwarf, or failed star. A new study using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows that several of these objects are warmer than previously thought, with temperatures about 250 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (125 to 175 degrees Celsius).

The locations of brown dwarfs discovered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, and mapped by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, are shown in this diagram as red circles. The red lines all link back to the location of the sun. The view is from a vantage point about 100 light-years away from the sun, looking back toward the constellation Orion. At this distance, our sun is barely visible as a speck of light. The vastly fainter brown dwarfs would not even be visible in this view.

Massive stars can wreak havoc on their surroundings, as can be seen in this new view of the Carina nebula from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. The bright star at the center of the nebula is Eta Carinae, one of the most massive stars in the galaxy. Its blinding glare is sculpting and destroying the surrounding nebula. Eta Carinae is a true giant of a star. It is around 100 times the mass of our sun and is burning its nuclear fuel so quickly that it is at least one million times brighter than the sun. It has brightened and faded over the years, and some astronomers think it could explode as a supernova in the not-too-distant future. Such a tremendous outflow of energy comes at a great cost to the surrounding nebula. The infrared light from the star destroys particles of dust, sculpting cavities and leaving pillars of denser material that point back to the star. Spitzers infrared vision lets us see the dust, shown in red, as well as clouds of hot, glowing gas that appear green. Spitzer released an image of a small part of this nebula in 2005. Subsequent observations greatly expanded our view of the entire region, and the data were combined and reprocessed as part of the extended Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) project. The infrared images were captured with the Spitzer's infrared array camera. The pictures are three-channel composites, showing emission from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), and 8.0 microns (red).

The spectacular swirling arms and central bar of the Sculptor galaxy are revealed in this new view from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. The main image is an infrared composite combining data from two of Spitzers detectors taken during its early cold, or cryogenic, mission. Also known as NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxy is part of a cluster of galaxies visible to observers in the Southern hemisphere. It is known as a starburst galaxy for the extraordinarily strong star formation in its nucleus. This activity warms the surrounding dust clouds, causing the brilliant yellow-red glow in the center of this infrared image. The image is split into two constituent parts on the right. On the top is a blue glow primarily from the light of stars as seen at the shorter wavelengths of infrared light. In this view, the disk, spiral arms and central bar are much easier to identify than in visible light because the obscuring effects of dust are minimized. The lower right image shows the glow of dust at longer infrared wavelengths in green and red. Regions of star formation glow especially bright at the longest wavelengths (red). While Spitzer is now operating without any onboard cryogen, it can still operate its shorter-wavelength detectors to produce images equivalent to the star map on the upper right. Spitzer continues to be a valuable tool for studying the infrared properties of galaxies near and far. Infrared light with wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns is shown as blue/cyan. Eight-micron light is rendered in green, and 24-micron emission is red.

The spectacular swirling arms and central bar of the Sculptor galaxy are revealed in this new starlight view from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. Also known as NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxy is part of a cluster of galaxies visible to observers in the Southern hemisphere. It is known as a starburst galaxy for the extraordinarily strong star formation in its nucleus. In this image, the blue glow primarily comes from stars as seen at shorter wavelengths of infrared light. In this view, the disk, spiral arms and central bar are much easier to identify than in visible light because the obscuring effects of dust are minimized. While Spitzer is now operating without any onboard cryogen, it can still operate its shorter-wavelength detectors to produce images like this. Spitzer continues to be a valuable tool for studying the infrared properties of galaxies near and far. Infrared light with wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns is shown as blue/cyan. These observations were made during Spitzer's early cold, or cryogenic, mission but are typical of what can be achieved during the ongoing warm mission phase.

The spectacular dusty swirling arms and central bar of the Sculptor galaxy are revealed in this new view from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. The main image is an infrared composite combining data from two of Spitzers detectors taken during its early cold, or cryogenic, mission. Also known as NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxy is part of a cluster of galaxies visible to observers in the Southern hemisphere. It is known as a starburst galaxy for the extraordinarily strong star formation in its nucleus. This activity warms the surrounding dust clouds, causing the brilliant yellow-red glow in the center of this infrared image. Regions of star formation glow especially bright at the longest wavelengths (red). Infrared light with wavelengths of 8.0 microns is rendered in green, and 24-micron emission is red.

The spectacular swirling arms and central bar of the Sculptor galaxy are revealed in this new view from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. This image is an infrared composite combining data from two of Spitzers detectors taken during its early cold, or cryogenic, mission. Also known as NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxy is part of a cluster of galaxies visible to observers in the Southern hemisphere. It is known as a starburst galaxy for the extraordinarily strong star formation in its nucleus. This activity warms the surrounding dust clouds, causing the brilliant yellow-red glow in the center of this infrared image. Infrared light with wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns is shown as blue/cyan. Eight-micron light is rendered in green, and 24-micron emission is red.