Is space on FIRE? NASA's Spitzer Telescope captures a massive collection of glowing gas and dust

NASA's Spitzer Telescope captured an image of what looks like flames ripping through the black void of space. The picture highlights the Perseus Molecular Cloud, which is a massive collection of gas and dust that stretches over 500 light-years across. The fiery glow is a result of infrared radiation from warm dust and clusters of stars that'illuminate the surrounding clouds like the Sun lighting up a cloudy sky at sunset.' The Perseus Molecular Cloud is home to an abundance of young stars and is located on the edge of the Perseus Constellation. It contains over 10,000 solar masses of gas and dust covering an area of size by two degrees.