APOD: 2023 October 10 Б Hidden Orion from Webb
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion has hidden stars.
To the unaided eye in visible light, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But this image was taken by the
Webb Space Telescope
in a representative-color composite of red and very near
infrared light.
It confirms with impressive detail that the
Orion Nebula is a busy neighborhood of
young stars, hot gas, and dark dust.
The rollover
image
shows the same image in representative colors further into the
near infrared.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the
Trapezium -
a cluster of bright stars near the nebula's center.
The diffuse and
filamentary glow
surrounding the bright stars is mostly heated interstellar
dust.
Detailed inspection of these images shows an
unexpectedly large number of Jupiter-Mass Binary Objects
(JuMBOs), pairs of Jupiter-mass
objects which might give a clue to how stars
are forming.
The whole
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next few million years.
APOD editor to speak:
in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at 6 pm
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.
