Incredible photos from Spitzer Space Telescope

The "Wing" of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Over the past decade, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured magnificent images and triggered an impressive list of discoveries, while also helping astronomers study many comets, stars, asteroids, planets.

This image shows young stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of the closest galaxies to our Milky Way.

Astronomers call all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium "metals." The Wing is a region known to have fewer metals compared to most areas within the Milky Way.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech