The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the most impressive infrared sources in the sky, larger than any save the Milky Way itself. This false color image shows the cloudΓÇÖs far infrared light. As with visible light, the colors indicate temp- erature: red is cool, yellow is warm, and white is hot. Visible light is generated primarily by stars, but the source of far infrared light is dust. When there is dust in a galaxy, it often fills much more space than stars. Typically, stars are heated to thousands of degrees and emit more visible than infrared light. Dust, on the other hand, is coolerΓÇöoften no more than 10 or 20 degrees above absolute zero ΓÇöand radiates almost all of its energy in far infrared.
