WISE Up: Space Photos from NASA's Sky-Mapping Telescope

Dust in the Wind(ing Spiral Arms)

This WISE image shows dust speckling the Andromeda galaxy's spiral arms. The hot dust, heated by newborn stars, outlines the thin arms to the center of the galaxy.

Blue Light Special

This dense cluster of galaxies, captured by WISE, is known as Fornax because of its location in a constellation of the same name. It lies 60 million light-years from Earth, and is one of the closest galaxy clusters to the Milky Way.

Watcher of the Skies

This artist’s rendering of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) shows the new NASA sky-mapper, which will scan the cosmos in infrared light better than any previous attempts.

What Do You See?

Shortly after NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) ejected its cover, it took this infrared snapshot of a region in the constellation Carina near the Milky Way. It was released Jan. 6, 2010.

The Other End of the Telescope

Supernova Cassiopeia A

The Launch

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, streaks skyward in this infrared image of the launch on Dec. 14, 2009 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

WISE All-Sky Mosaic

This is a mosaic of the images covering the entire sky as observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), part of its All-Sky Data Release. Image released March 14, 2012.

Supernova Cassiopeia A Seen by WISE

Supernova Cassiopeia A is one of the brightest radio sources in the whole sky. More recently, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), detected infrared echoes of the flash of light rippling outwards from the supernova. Image released March 14, 2012.

WISE Discoveries of Brown Dwarfs

Our cosmic backyard as seen from 30 light-years away. Red circles indicate the discoveries of brown dwarfs by NASA's WISE space telescope.