(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
鈥淐APTURE & name your own NASA Spitzer space image! It鈥檚 easier than you might think.鈥� , the operators of the invited people to roam around a gigantic mosaic of the Milky Way.
Composed of more than 2 million infrared images taken by the telescope over the last decade, the complete panoramic image can be viewed online using NASA鈥檚 GLIMPSE360 tool. Released in March, it allows people to explore more than half of our galaxy鈥檚 stars.
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Twitter user Kevin Gill (@kevinmgill) discovered the nebula pictured . 鈥淚 was interested in the awesomeness of the data and the high-resolution views into the depths of space that no one has ever seen before,鈥� says Gill. 鈥淚 had found two other interesting things, but this one struck me as the funniest, looking like a Minecraft creeper just staring us down.鈥�
The image has been likened to a fish, a raccoon and most notably a 鈥渃ute coyote鈥檚 head鈥�. This has landed the once-unknown region a nickname: the Coyote Head Nebula. It鈥檚 like a Rorschach ink-blot test, say the team. What do you see?
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪pot the galactic coyote鈥�
