The Orion Nebula from VLT
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But
this image, a representative-color composite of 81
near-
infrared light images taken with
VLT's ISAAC, shows the
Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of
young stars, hot gas, and dark dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the
Trapezium -
four of the brightest stars in the nebula.
The eerie blue glow surrounding the
bright stars pictured here is their own
starlight reflected by nearby
dust.
Dark brown
dust filaments
cover much of
the region.
The whole
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
