Herschel space telescope captures birth of stars

The pictures show star formation, and have been described as among the most important images obtained from space for decades.
Astronomers hope that, by analysing these images, they will be able to answer questions about how stars and galaxies are made.
Herschel is the largest astronomical telescope ever to be put into space.

These three detectors allow Herschel to see far-infrared and sub-millimetre (radio) wavelengths of light, allowing it to peer through clouds of dust and gas and to see stars as they are born.
This infrared capability also enables Herschel to look deep into space, to look at galaxies that thrived when the Universe was roughly a half to a fifth of its present age. This is a period in cosmic history when it is thought star formation was at its most prolific.

Another picture shows a dying star. For this image Herschel was able to look beneath the clouds of gas that the star hurled out into space and reveal a donut ring of cosmic dust.
This dust would have been blown outward until, hundreds of millions of years later, the dust clumped together again to form a brand new star.
Astronomers will continue to study the images, which have already shown that the mechanisms of the cosmos may be more diverse and complex than current theory suggests.