Extracts from the VISTA infrared image of the Orion Nebula

On the upper-left, the central region of VISTA’s view of the Orion Nebula is shown, centred on the four dazzling stars of the Trapezium. A rich cluster of young stars can be seen here that is invisible in normal, visible light images. In the lower-right panel the part of the nebula to the north of the centre is shown. Here there are many young stars embedded in the dust clouds that are only apparent because their infrared glow can penetrate the dust and be detected by the VISTA camera. Many outflows, jets and other interactions from young stars are apparent, seen in the infrared glow from molecular hydrogen and showing up as red blobs. On the upper-right, a region to the west of centre is shown. Here the fierce ultraviolet light from the Trapezium is sculpting the gas clouds into curious wavy shapes. A distant edge-on spiral galaxy is also seen shining right through the nebula. At the lower-left a region south of the centre is shown. Each extract covers a region of sky about nine arcminutes across.

Crédit:

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso1006b
Type:Observation
Date de publication:10 février 2010 12:00
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso1006
Taille:3400 x 3400 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:Messier 42, Orion Nebula
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Distance:1400 années lumière
Catégorie:Nebulae

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
2,3 Mio
JPEG taille écran
230,1 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
239,3 Kio
1280x1024
368,0 Kio
1600x1200
505,1 Kio
1920x1200
580,6 Kio
2048x1536
789,4 Kio