How Infrared Telescopes Like Spitzer Help Astronomers See the Invisible

When astronomers study stars and galaxies in visible light, they’re plagued by the dust that fills galaxies and sometimes blocks objects from view. Look at a photograph of the Milky Way on a dark night and you'll notice clouds obscuring much of the galaxy — those are dust clouds. This is an especially big problem for researchers who want to study the center of the Milky Way or other galaxies, which are often shrouded in thick clouds of dust.