Editing Astronomy (section)

=== Infrared astronomy ===
[[File:In Search of Space.jpg|thumb|[[Atacama Large Millimeter Array|ALMA]] Observatory is one of the highest observatory sites on Earth. Atacama, Chile.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Search of Space|url=http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1431a/|access-date=5 August 2014|work=Picture of the Week|agency=European Southern Observatory|archive-date=13 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813090738/https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1431a/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{Main|Infrared astronomy}}
Infrared astronomy is founded on the detection and analysis of [[infrared]] radiation, wavelengths longer than red light and outside the range of our vision. The infrared spectrum is useful for studying objects that are too cold to radiate visible light, such as planets, [[circumstellar disk]]s or nebulae whose light is blocked by dust. The longer wavelengths of infrared can penetrate clouds of dust that block visible light, allowing the observation of young stars embedded in [[molecular cloud]]s and the cores of galaxies. Observations from the [[Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer]] (WISE) have been particularly effective at unveiling numerous galactic [[protostar]]s and their host [[star clusters]].<ref name="wright">{{cite web|url=http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/|title=Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Mission|date=30 September 2014|publisher=[[NASA]] [[University of California, Berkeley]]|access-date=17 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112144939/http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/|archive-date=12 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=ma2013>{{Cite journal |bibcode = 2013Ap&SS.344..175M|title = Discovering protostars and their host clusters via WISE|last1 = Majaess|first1 = D.|journal = Astrophysics and Space Science|volume = 344|issue = 1|pages = 175–186|year = 2013|arxiv = 1211.4032|doi = 10.1007/s10509-012-1308-y|s2cid = 118455708}}</ref>
With the exception of infrared [[wavelengths]] close to visible light, such radiation is heavily absorbed by the atmosphere, or masked, as the atmosphere itself produces significant infrared emission. Consequently, infrared observatories have to be located in high, dry places on Earth or in space.<ref>{{cite news
|author=Staff
|date=11 September 2003
|title=Why infrared astronomy is a hot topic
|publisher=ESA
|url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMX9PZO4HD_FeatureWeek_0.html
|access-date=11 August 2008
|archive-date=30 July 2012
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730/http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMX9PZO4HD_FeatureWeek_0.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Some molecules radiate strongly in the infrared. This allows the study of the chemistry of space; more specifically it can detect water in comets.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/Spectra/irspec.html|title=Infrared Spectroscopy – An Overview|publisher=[[NASA]] [[California Institute of Technology]]|access-date=11 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005031543/http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/Spectra/irspec.html|archive-date=5 October 2008}}</ref>