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Credit & Copyright: Matt Harbison
(Space4Everybody),
Marathon Remote Imaging Observatory
Explanation:
You may have seen Orion's belt before -- but not like this.
The three bright stars across this image are, from left to right,
Mintaka,
Alnilam, and
Alnitak: the iconic
belt stars of
Orion.
The rest of the
stars in the frame have been digitally removed to
highlight the surrounding clouds of glowing gas and dark dust.
Some of these clouds have intriguing shapes, including the
Horsehead and
Flame Nebulas, both near Alnitak on the lower right.
This deep image,
taken last month from the
Marathon Skypark
and Observatory in
Marathon,
Texas,
USA,
spans about 5 degrees, required about 20 hours of exposure,
and was processed to reveal the gas and dust that we would
really see if we were much closer.
The famous Orion Nebula
is off to the upper right of this colorful field.
The entire region lies only about 1,500
light-years
distant and so is one of the closest and
best studied star formation nurseries known.
Tonight: APOD Editor to Present the
Best Space Images of 2021
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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