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Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal
Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)
Explanation:
What surrounds the famous belt stars of Orion?
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,
appearing diagonally on the left of the featured image 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.
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.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500
light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen primarily because
it is backlit by the nearby massive star
Sigma Orionis.
The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by
the
high-energy starlight.
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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
Publications with words: Orion
See also: