NASA space telescope captures stunning green 'Spider' nebula

A stunning image taken with an infrared camera by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what is called a "spider" nebula glowing fluorescent green.

The Spider, officially called IC 417, is located next to another collection of stars and dust dubbed "The Fly," according to the space agency.

The green nebula is about 10,000 light-years away from Earth and resides on the outer part of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Toward the center of the interstellar gas and dust is a bright group of stars known as the Stock 8. The light cluster, which carves out a bowl shape in the dust, are some of the youngest stars in the nebula.

The nebula appears green because the infrared wavelengths are invisible to the eyes and when an infrared camera is used it captures the wavelengths in different colors depending on the frequency.

The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched 13 years ago and is managed by Pasadena-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory.