On December 14, 2009, NASA launched the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope. This space-born telescope has a 16 inch diameter and surveys light in the infrared wavelengths. The telescope’s focal planes and optics are cooled with a two-stage solid-hydrogen cryostat. This gives the mission an expected lifetime of 10 months. Over that time, it will take one image about every 11 seconds for about 1.5 million images in total.
The WISE team recently released an image of the Heart and Soul nebulae, or IC 1805 and IC 1848 respectively. The Heart nebula is on the right, and the soul nebula is on the left. The Heart and Soul nebulae are located in the constellation Cassiopeia, and are approximately 6.000 light-years from Earth.
Near the lower center portion of this image are two galaxies: Maffei 1 and Maffei 2. These galaxies are approximately 10 million light-years away from Earth. Maffei 1 is the bluish elliptical object and Maffei 2 is the spiral galaxy.
All four infrared detectors aboard WISE were used to make this image. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is dominated by light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team
