Herschel Telescope image of the Cygnus-X star-forming region. Featured prominently are dust and gas lanes that indicate massive star formation. Image Credit: ESA/PACS/SPIRE/M. Hennemann & F. Motte, Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA/Irfu, CNRS/INSU, Univ. Paris Diderot, France

With Cygnus the swan visible in the east around midnight, it’s starting to become a good time to check out the myriad clusters and nebulae in the summer Milky Way. Shown above is a new view of the Cygnus-X star-forming region by the Herschel Telescope. In the image, star-forming regions of dust and gas are shown.

The image uses far-infrared data with filters at 70 micron (blue); 160 micron (green); and 250 micron (red). The Herschel Telescope made the observations for this image on May 24, 2010, and Dec. 18, 2010.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery