Hiding at the back of Milky Way

Stargazers and specialized astronomers have a tough time watching the galaxy through the Milky Way's bright band of stars, dust and gas. WISE's infrared vision cuts all the way through this veil, offering a brittle view.

In a spiral galaxy like IC 342, dust and gas are concerted in the arms. The denser pockets of gas activate the formation of new stars, as represented here in green and yellow. The center, shown in red, is also bursting with young and youthful stars, which are heating up dust. Stars that come out blue be located within our Milky Way, between us and IC 342.

This galaxy has been of great attention to astronomers since it is comparatively close. However, determining its distance from Earth has confirmed complication due to the intervening Milky Way. Astronomer Edwin Hubble first thought the galaxy might fit in to our own Local Group of galaxies, however present estimates now place it farther away, at about 6.6 to 11 million light-years.

This picture was made from observations by all four infrared detectors on board WISE. Blue and cyan stand for infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is principally light from stars. Green and red symbolize light at 12 and 22 microns, which is primarily emission from warm dust.