Comparison of VISTA image of NGC 6357 with a visible light image

This video sequence compares infrared and visible light views of the Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357). The visible light image created from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 and, for the central part, the ESO VLT. The new infrared image was taken with the VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. In the infrared, the dust that obscures many stars becomes nearly transparent, revealing a whole host of new stars that are otherwise invisible.