WISE

Starburst galaxy, NGC 253, as viewed from visible to infrared light. This galaxy is one of the most spectacularly resolved "barred" disk galaxies owing to its size, star formation activity, and proximity to the Milky Way (distance less than 15 million light-years). It illustrates the remarkable contrast between the visible and near-infrared windows: in visible light, the stars in and about the spiral arms are mostly hidden by nebulosity and dust, including the utterly invisible "bar". However, in near-infrared light, the spirals arms are clearly seen,  including the remarkable "bar" feeding a compact starburst nucleus. The dust mask of NGC 253 is stripped away at infrared wavelengths, revealing the remarkable underlying stellar structure. WISE will be sensitive to both stellar structure (as viewed through the shorter wavelength "near-infrared" bands) and to sites of star formation (through the longer wavelength "mid-infrared" bands) in galaxies such as NGC 253.