Infrared light penetrates gas and dust clouds better than visible light. The Spitzer Space Telescope’s IR vision has provided unprecedented views into regions where stars are born. This image from Spitzer shows newborn stars peeking out from beneath their baby blanket of dust in the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud. That cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions to our own Solar System, about 410 light years away from Earth.

Image Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Harvard-Smithsonian CfA