Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have been able to observe the creation of new stars happening in the far reaches of the Milky Way, according to NASA.
The images are part of a NASA project to map all of the celestial topography of our galaxy. The project is called the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire or Glimpse 360 for short. Soon a full map and 360 image of our galaxy will be available to anyone with a computer, reports NASA.
The Milky Way is a spiral shaped galaxy, sort of like a Frisbee but with a little bit of a warp in it. We are located in the Orion Spur about two-thirds away from the center of the galaxy. The majority of images we have of the galaxy's plane have been taken looking toward that center, not away from it.
"We sometimes call this flyover country," Barbara Whitney, an astronomer from the University of Wisconsin at Madison said. "We are finding all sorts of new star formation in the lesser-known areas at the outer edges of the galaxy."
Whitney and colleagues have found 163 areas in which star formation is going on. One formation in particular is near Canis Major where roughly 30 stars are sprouting out jets of new material, a sign that a star is very young in its life, according to NASA.
"With Spitzer, we can see out to the edge of the galaxy better than before," Robert Benjamin of the University of Wisconsin said. "We are hoping this will yield some new surprises."
Part of what makes this product so unique is how important of a role the public plays in it. NASA is counting on people to look over the images and hopefully discover things. One example of this paying off was when volunteers were able to find a multiple bubble structure in an area with stars forming called W39. Once this was brought to the attention of scientists they were able to further investigate and found that the smaller bubbles had come from a larger bubble that was carved out by massive stars, according to NASA.
"The crowdsourcing approach really works," Charles Kerton of Iowa State University said. "We are examining more of the hierarchical bubbles identified by the volunteers to understand the prevalence of triggered star formation in our galaxy."
To see an amazing gallery of pictures taken by the Spitzer telescope click here.
To find out more about the Milky Way Project and to find out how to participate click here.
