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Credit & Copyright: Raul Villaverde Fraile
Explanation:
What surrounds a hotbed of star formation?
In the case of the
Orion Nebula -- dust.
The
entire Orion field, located about 1600
light years away, is inundated with intricate and
picturesque filaments of dust.
Opaque to visible light,
dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive
cool stars and expelled by
a strong outer
wind
of particles.
The Trapezium and other forming
star clusters
are embedded in the nebula.
The intricate filaments of dust surrounding
M42 and
M43 appear brown in the
featured image, while central glowing gas is highlighted in red.
Over the next few million years much of
Orion's dust will be slowly
destroyed by the very stars now being formed, or dispersed into the
Galaxy.
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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 - M 42 - M 43
Publications with words: Orion Nebula - dust - M 42 - M 43
See also:
- APOD: 2024 November 4 Á M42: The Great Nebula in Orion
- APOD: 2024 September 29 Á Seven Dusty Sisters
- The Dark Seahorse of Cepheus
- APOD: 2024 September 10 Á Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
- NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
- APOD: 2024 January 29 Á The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
- Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion