The Orion Nebula showing three populations of young stars

OmegaCAM — the wide-field optical camera on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) — has captured the spectacular Orion Nebula and its associated cluster of young stars in great detail,  producing this beautiful new image. This famous object, the birthplace of many massive stars, is one of the closest stellar nurseries, at a distance of about 1350 light-years.

On this plot different populations of young stars are marked in different colours. The blue ones are oldest and the red youngest, with green ones an intermediate age. These stars seems to have formed in three bursts of star formation during the last three million years.

Credit:

ESO/G. Beccari

About the Image

Id:eso1723c
Type:Collage
Release date:27 July 2017, 12:00
Related releases:eso1723
Size:16877 x 13107 px

About the Object

Name:Orion Nebula
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region
Category:Nebulae

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Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
G
480 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Optical
r
625 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Optical
i
770 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM
Optical
H-alpha
659 nmVLT Survey Telescope
OmegaCAM