First images from the infrared-sensitive Spitzer Space Telescope were just released: magnificent views including the heart of a distant galaxy and the genesis of a solar system, including substantial data hidden from view by optical telescopes. The Spitzer images are visually spectacular, and the ability to detect faint infrared radiation from deep space objects will provide detail that could completely change our perception of the universe... and our place within it. [Link]

"For the first time, the Spitzer Space Telescope allows us to dissect a galaxy into its component parts just like a kid in a biology lab is dissecting a frog," said Giovanni Fazio, a principal investigator at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "This is something we've never been able to do before and it will change the way we classify galaxies."