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Credit & Copyright: Optical:
DSS;
Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech;
X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/ K.Getman, E.Feigelson, M.Kuhn & the MYStIX team /a
Explanation:
The Flame Nebula
stands out in this optical image of the dusty, crowded
star forming regions
toward Orion's belt,
a mere 1,400 light-years away.
X-ray data from the Chandra Observatory and infrared images from
the Spitzer Space Telescope
can take you inside the
glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds though.
Swiping your cursor (or clicking the image) will reveal
many stars of the recently formed, embedded cluster
NGC 2024, ranging in age from 200,000 years to 1.5 million years young.
The X-ray/infrared
composite image overlay spans about 15 light-years
across the Flame's center.
The X-ray/infrared data also indicate that the youngest stars are
concentrated near the middle of the cluster.
That's the opposite of the simplest models of
star formation for the stellar nursery.
They predict
star formation to begin first in the denser center and
progressively move outward toward the edges leaving the older stars,
not the younger ones, in the center of the Flame Nebula.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/ K.Getman, E.Feigelson, M.Kuhn & the MYStIX team /a
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day