JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Stars and Galaxies
.

'Enterprise' Nebulae Seen by Spitzer

Written by Robert Hurt Sept. 8, 2016
These nebulae seen by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, at left, may resemble two versions of the starship Enterprise from "Star Trek," overlaid at right.› Full image and caption
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the TV series "Star Trek," which first aired September 8th,1966, a new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope may remind fans of the historic show.

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the TV series "Star Trek," which first aired September 8th,1966, a new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope may remind fans of the historic show.

Since ancient times, people have imagined familiar objects when gazing at the heavens. There are many examples of this phenomenon, known as pareidolia, including the constellations and the well-known nebulae named Ant, Stingray and Hourglass. 

On the right of the image, with a little scrutiny, you may see hints of the saucer and hull of the original USS Enterprise, captained by James T. Kirk, as if it were emerging from a dark nebula. To the left, its "Next Generation" successor, Jean-Luc Picard's Enterprise-D, flies off in the opposite direction.

Astronomically speaking, the region pictured in the image falls within the disk of our Milky Way galaxy and displays two regions of star formation hidden behind a haze of dust when viewed in visible light. Spitzer's ability to peer deeper into dust clouds has revealed a myriad of stellar birthplaces like these, which are officially known only by their catalog numbers, IRAS 19340+2016 and IRAS19343+2026.

Trekkies, however, may prefer using the more familiar designations NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-D. Fifty years after its inception, Star Trek still inspires fans and astronomers alike to boldly explore where no one has gone before.

This image was assembled using data from Spitzer's biggest surveys of the Milky Way, called GLIMPSE and MIPSGAL. Light with a wavelength of 3.5 microns is shown in blue, 8.0 microns in green, and 24 microns in red. The green colors highlight organic molecules in the dust clouds, illuminated by starlight. Red colors are related to thermal radiation emitted from the very hottest areas of dust.

JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Spitzer, visit:

http://spitzer.caltech.edu

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

News Media Contact

Elizabeth Landau

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-0845

elandau@nasa.gov

2016-234

Related News

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA’s Webb Telescope Captures Rarely Seen Prelude to Supernova

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas, Dust in Nearby Galaxies

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA Gets Unusually Close Glimpse of Black Hole Snacking on Star

Stars and Galaxies .

VP Harris, French President Get First Look at Galactic Get-Together

Stars and Galaxies .

Baby Star ‘Burps’ Tell Tales of Frantic Feeding, NASA Data Shows

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA, ESA Reveal Tale of Death, Dust in Orion Constellation

Stars and Galaxies .

Haunting Portrait: NASA’s Webb Reveals Dust, Structure in Pillars of Creation

Stars and Galaxies .

NASA Telescope Takes 12-Year Time-Lapse Movie of Entire Sky

Stars and Galaxies .

Star Duo Forms ‘Fingerprint’ in Space, NASA’s Webb Finds

Stars and Galaxies .

A Cosmic Tarantula, Caught by NASA’s Webb

Explore More

Mission .

ASTHROS

Video .

What's Up - March 2023

Mission .

Euclid

Video .

What's Up - February 2023

Mission .

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Video .

What's Up - January 2023

Video .

What's Up - December 2022

Video .

What's Up - November 2022

Video .

What's Up - October 2022

Video .

What's Up - September 2022

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Directions and Maps
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono
CL#: 21-0018