Herschel and Vela C

ESA’s Herschel space observatory set against a background image of the Vela C star-forming region. The image shows both high- and low-mass star formation at a range of evolutionary stages, from cool filaments, pre-stellar cores and protostars to more evolved regions containing dust that has been gently heated by hot stars.

The image was mapped using Herschel instruments PACS and SPIRE at wavelengths of 70, 160 and 250 microns, corresponding to the blue, green and red channels, respectively. North is to the right and east is up.