Credit: ESO (top), 2MASS (middle), IRAS/DIRBE (bottom)

This image shows the relative locations of the RCW 49 and Taurus star-forming regions. The top panel shows an artist's concept of our own Milky Way Galaxy as seen from above, with the relative locations of the Sun, the nearby Taurus region, and the more distant RCW 49 nebula. In the bottom panel, these regions are marked in the sky as seen from Earth in nearly opposite directions. The top half shows the stars of the Milky Way, and the bottom half shows the far infrared view of the dust clouds in the Milky Way.