A remarkable view of our Galaxy has been obtained by Europe's billion-euro Herschel Space Observatory. The telescope was put in a special scanning mode to map a patch of sky. The images reveal in exquisite detail the dense, contorted clouds of cold gas that are collapsing in on themselves to form new stars. Herschel, which has the largest mirror ever put on an orbiting telescope, was launched in May as a flagship mission of the European Space Agency.

It is tuned to see far-infrared wavelengths of light and is expected to give astronomers significant insights into some of the fundamental processes that shape the cosmos. Herschel's great advantage is that its sensitivity allows it to see things that are beyond the vision of other space telescopes, such as Hubble. A prime goal is to understand the mechanisms that control the earliest phases of stellar evolution.

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Front Page Image Credit: NASA