Starbirth
This mosaic shows the center of the Orion Nebula. Many of the nebula's details can't be captured in a single picture - any more than one snapshot of the Grand Canyon yields clues to its formation and history. Like the Grand Canyon, the Orion nebula has a dramatic surface topography — of glowing gasses instead of rock — with peaks, valleys and walls. They are illuminated and heated by a torrent of energetic ultraviolet light from its four hottest and most massive stars, called the Trapezium, which lie near the center of the image.
Credit:NASA, C.R. O'Dell and S.K. Wong (Rice University)
About the Image
NASA press release
Id: | opo9545m |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 20 November 1995, 06:00 |
Size: | 1792 x 2097 px |
About the Object
Name: | Messier 42, NGC 1976, Orion Nebula |
Type: | Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk : Protoplanetary Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
Distance: | 1400 light years |
Constellation: | Orion |
Category: | Nebulae |
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 5 35 15.39 |
Position (Dec): | -5° 23' 47.86" |
Field of view: | 2.96 x 3.46 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 44.3° left of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical OIII | 502 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical H-alpha | 656 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical NII | 658 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |