Impressive Vista of Milky Way Stellar Nurseries Captured by WISE

Experts operating the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft just released this amazing new vista of the Milky Way, covering more than 1,000 square degrees of the night sky, and depicting multiple stellar nurseries in our galaxy.

The photo reveals numerous hollowed-out regions of space, which astronomers explain were once occupied by protostars that have since come of age. When that happened, intense stellar winds from their surfaces carved out massive volumes of gas and dust from their surroundings.

Some scientists believe that this mechanism is essential towards regulating the growth of stars, which would otherwise accrete mass continuously. “Massive stars sweep up and destroy their natal clouds, but they continuously spark new stars to form along the way,” WISE mission scientist Dave Leisawitz says.

This sequence of event continues as the harassed dust/gas clouds regroup elsewhere, and start giving birth to new stars. The procession continues in this manner for a very long time, until finally all gas is exhausted, or spread too far apart to make a difference.