Starship Asterisk*

[img3="NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is celebrating 12 years in space with a new digital calendar. The calendar's 12 images are shown here. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech"]http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files ... s-main.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

Celebrate the 12th anniversary of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope with a new digital calendar showcasing some of the mission's most notable discoveries and popular cosmic eye candy.

The calendar follows the life of the mission, with each month highlighting top infrared images and discoveries from successive years -- everything from a dying star resembling the eye of a monster to a star-studded, swirling galaxy. The final month includes a brand new image of the glittery star-making factory known as the Monkey Head nebula. ...

Spitzer, which launched into space on August 23, 2003, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is still going strong. It continues to use its ultra-sensitive infrared vision to probe asteroids, comets, exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) and some of the farthest known galaxies. ...