A Cosmic Flame
Sparkling at the edge of a giant cloud of gas and dust, the Flame Nebula, also referred to as NGC 2024, is in fact the hideout of a cluster of young, blue, massive stars, whose light sets the gas ablaze. Located 1,300 light-years away towards the constellation of Orion, the nebula owes its typical colour to the glow of hydrogen atoms, heated by the stars. The latter are obscured by a dark, forked dusty structure in the centre of the image and are only revealed by infrared observations.
This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, combining three exposures in the filters B (40 seconds), V (80 seconds) and R (40 seconds).
Credit:
ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, J.-E. Ovaldsen, C. Thöne and C. Féron
About the Image
| Id: | eso-flame |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 3 December 2009, 23:20 |
| Size: | 2044 x 2075 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Flame Nebula, NGC 2024 |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation • Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission • X - Nebulae • X - Stars |
| Distance: | 1500 light years |
| Constellation: | Orion |
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 5 41 42.73 |
| Position (Dec): | -1° 54' 43.66" |
| Field of view: | 13.42 x 13.63 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 45.1° left of vertical |
Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
| Optical B |
Danish 1.54-metre telescope |
| Optical V |
Danish 1.54-metre telescope |
| Optical R |
Danish 1.54-metre telescope |
Images
Wallpapers
