Cygnus-X Star-Forming Region (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Cygnus-X Star-Forming Region

Caption

The Cygnus-X star-forming region is located 4,600 light-years from Earth and spans more than 600 light-years. It contains 10 times as much gas as the Orion Nebula -- enough to make over three million suns. This infrared photograph from the Spitzer Space Telescope reveals more than a thousand protostars in the earliest stages of forming. Light of 3.6 microns is color-coded blue: 4.5-micron light is blue-green; 8.0-micron light is green; and 24-micron light is red.

Credit

NASA / JPL-Caltech / J. Hora (CfA)

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