Out of the Darkness Comes Stars

Spitzer_ssc2005-22b_1024

spitzer_ssc2005-22b November 2nd, 2005

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)

This artist's concept shows what the very early universe might have looked like, just after its first stars began bursting onto the scene.

Scientists theorize that the universe arose around 13.7 billion years ago in an explosion known as the Big Bang. Almost instantaneously afterward, matter began clumping together due to quantum fluctuations. Gravity kicked in next, causing those clumps to grow into larger clouds of invisible hydrogen gas (colored blue here). Eventually, around 200 to 400 million years after the Big Bang, the gas ignited and stars were born. The illustration shows collections of these first stars, called Population III stars, clustered together into what will later become galaxies.

Population III stars are thought to have been incredibly massive, more than 100 times the mass of our Sun. They lived quickly and died brilliantly in fiery blasts called supernovas. Some of those supernovas are shown here as bright balls of white light.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope might have detected the infrared glow of these exceptional stars. Though the stars originally shone with ultraviolet and other types of light, that light stretched out to longer, infrared wavelengths over the course of its lengthy journey to Spitzer's eyes. Because the stars are highly clustered, their light stands out like faint mountains in the distant universe.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1507-ssc2005-22b-Out-of-the-Darkness-Comes-Stars

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

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Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Subject - Distant Universe
Star > Population > III
Spitzer_ssc2005-22b_1280
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ID
ssc2005-22b
Subject Category
D.3.4.3  
Subject Name
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)
Release Date
2005-11-02
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1507-ssc2005-22b-Out-of-the-Darkness-Comes-Stars
Type
Artwork
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2005-22b.tif
Metadata Date
2012-03-21
Metadata Version
1.1
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