Shrouded Burst of Stars: Spitzer Reveals a Buried Explosion Sparked by a Galactic Train Wreck

A brilliant burst of star formation is revealed in this image combining observations from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes. The collision of two spiral galaxies, has triggered this luminous starburst, the brightest ever seen taking place far away from the centers, or nuclei, of merging galaxies. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/H. Inami (SSC/Caltech))(Nov. 28, 2010) — Astronomers using