Setting the Dark on Fire (zoom)

A new image from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile shows a beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in the region of Orion. While these dense interstellar clouds seem dark and obscured in visible-light observations, APEX’s LABOCA camera can detect the heat glow of the dust and reveal the hiding places where new stars are being formed. The video begins with a wide-field view of the sky in visible light, before zooming in to the constellation of Orion and the region around the reflec