Mapping Interstellar Ice
Video Player
Video Versions
Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Video imagery:
· SPHEREx image of Cygnus X: NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC/Hora et al.
· SPHEREx molecular cloud map: : NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC/Hora et al.
Music from Music for Non-Profits
(DESCRIPTION)
[00:00:00.00] Vibrant photos of stars, planets and various celestial bodies scroll past. A title: News From the Universe.
(SPEECH)
[00:00:00.17] [COSMIC
(DESCRIPTION)
[00:00:07.56] Text: April 29, 2026. Mapping Interstellar Ice.
[00:00:15.04] A photo captures thousands of glowing stars of different sizes. Text: NASA's Sphere x mission has mapped interstellar ice at an unprecedented scale.
[00:00:25.05] The ice was found inside giant molecular clouds like Cygnus X, shown here. These are vast regions of gas and dust where clumps of matter collapse under gravity, giving birth to stars.
[00:00:38.19] The picture displays hazy blue and greenish clouded regions with stars embedded inside. Text: These ice concentrations support the idea that the ice forms on the surface of tiny dust particles.
[00:00:50.04] This image of the region shows the chemical signatures of water ice, shown in bright blue, and dust in the form of sooty hydrocarbons, orange. In another photo, wispy orange and blue striations spread across a dark background.
[00:01:02.79] Text: Researchers say that the SPHERE x data creates a map of material that could become part of forming planets and potentially support future life.
[00:01:14.22] These vast frozen complexes are like interstellar glaciers that could deliver a massive water supply to new solar systems that will be born in the region, said study co-author Phil Korn gut.
(SPEECH)
[00:01:23.48] MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
[00:01:27.73] This news was brought to you in part by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.