The previously undiscovered protostars are the small points of orangey light in the center of the image. They are up to 10 times more massive than the sun.

The Herschel Space Observatory, operated by the European Space Agency, obtained the new image, which is a composite of three different wavelengths of light all in the infrared part of the spectrum. Infrared light waves are longer and scatter less than visible light, allowing scientists to probe dust-shrouded areas of space. In this image, the shortest wavelength is blue, the medium green, and the longest red.

The intense star-forming region of the Milky Way is about 5,000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. This image shows only part of the massive cloud of dust. If the whole thing, seen below, were visible to the naked eye, it would be large in the sky, appearing around five times the size of a full moon.