The biggest detailed near-infrared view of the Orion A molecular cloud has just been made.
Say what?
Here are five things you should know about this ESO image:
It was taken by ESO’s VISTA telescope — a large infrared telescope in Chile that can see light the human eye cannot.
Stars form in dusty areas like the Orion molecular cloud so we can’t properly see what’s going on.
Except if you have infrared vision like VISTA
Hashtag: PieceOfCake
Dust problem solved, astronomers made a catalogue of almost 800 000 stars and distant galaxies.
The Orion Nebula is perhaps the coolest object in the sky.
It’s the nearest nursery for massive newborn stars.
Studying how stars form allows us to better understand our cosmic ancestry.
Created by ESO, translated by —