This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Milky Way Galactic Plane, infrared image. This is part of Hi-GA

---

This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Milky Way Galactic Plane, infrared image. This is part of Hi-GAL, a survey of the Galactic Plane by the Herschel Space Observatory. In the Milky Way's disc are pockets of gas and dust that have been heated by nearby newborn stars, causing them to glow brightly. Hotter regions emit shorter infrared wavelengths and are depicted in violet and green, while the colder material in the surroundings appears redder. Amongst the stars are filaments sprinkled with tiny white spots: these are denser clumps of gas and dust that will likely evolve and give birth to new stars. This image combines observations from the observatory's PACS and SPIRE instruments.

---

Size: 12727px × 3031px
Photo credit: © ESA/PACS & SPIRE Consortium, S. Molinari, Hi-GAL Project/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -gal, 2011, 21st, agency, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, birth, brightly, century, colorful, colourful, dust, electromagnetic, esa, european, galactic, galaxy, gas, heat, herschel, hso, infrared, ir, milky, night, observatory, pacs, plane, radiation, research, sky, space, spectrum, spire, star, stars, survey, telescope, telescopes, universe