Infrared/visible light comparison of views of a stellar nursery in Monoceros

This image compares infrared and visible views of the Monoceros R2 star-forming region. The visible light image (left) was created from digitised photographs through red and blue filters forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The new infrared image (right) was taken with the VISTA telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. In the infrared, the thick rich dust clouds that cover much of the image become nearly transparent and a whole host of young stars and associated outflows become apparent.