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Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo
(Deep Sky Colors)
Explanation:
The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row.
A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters,
all embedded in an extended
patch of
gaseous wisps in the greater
Orion
Molecular
Cloud
Complex.
The brightest three stars
on the far left are indeed the
famous three stars that make up the
belt of Orion.
Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the
three belt stars, is the
Flame Nebula, glowing with
excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.
Below the frame center and just to the right of
Alnitak lies the
Horsehead Nebula, a
dark indentation of
dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular
shapes on the sky.
On the upper right lies
M42, the
Orion Nebula,
an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas,
visible to the unaided eye,
that is giving birth to a
new open cluster of stars.
Immediately to the left of
M42
is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the
Running Man that houses many bright
blue stars.
The above
image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area
with objects that are roughly 1,500
light years away and spans about 75 light years.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Orion Nebula - dust - star formation
Publications with words: Orion Nebula - dust - star formation
See also:
- APOD: 2025 August 28 Á Galaxies, Stars, and Dust
- APOD: 2025 August 13 Á Trapezium: In the Heart of Orion
- APOD: 2025 August 10 Á Zodiacal Road
- APOD: 2025 July 10 Á Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
- APOD: 2025 June 23 Á W5: Pillars of Star Formation
- APOD: 2025 April 28 Á Gum 37 and the Southern Tadpoles
- APOD: 2025 April 20 Á The Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared