This animation shows the RCW49 stellar nursery in Centaurus imaged in differnt wavelengths of light. It begins with visible light views and ends with Spitzer infrared observations. The picture changes in hue from red to blue, then fades from sight, as new infrared features appear in false colors. The first false-color infrared view is from the near-infrared Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) mission and shows wavelengths of 1.3 to 2.2 microns. The second false-color view is from Spitzer's infrared array camera and covers wavelengths of 3.6 to 8 microns.

While the nebula is present in all of these views, hidden and buried features emerge at Spitzer wavelengths. Reddish stars pop into view and the full bloom of the extended nebula appears in the final Spitzer image. The hundreds of yellow circles in the final image indicate the locations of possible newly formed protostars.