Telescope sees birth of stars

From BBC News:

Stars_2 Using its infra-red “eyes”, the Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a spectacular view of stars forming inside the dark depths of interstellar clouds. Visible-light images of the same region show dark towers fringed by halos of light. The stars inside are hidden by dust. But infrared light coming from the stars can escape through the dust, giving astronomers a new view of our galaxy. “We believe that the star clusters lighting up the tips of the pillars are essentially the offspring of the region’s single, massive star,” said Dr Lori Allen from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US.

“It appears that radiation and winds from the massive star triggered new stars to form.”

More here.