Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light
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- Visualizations by:
- Frank Summers
- View full credits
This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible and infrared light. The sequence begins with a wide-field view of the sky showing the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, then zooms down to the scale of the Orion Nebula. The visible light observation (from the Hubble Space Telescope) and the infrared light observation (from the Spitzer Space Telescope) are compared first in two-dimensional images, and then in three-dimensional models.
As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views. The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster. The infrared observations generally show cooler temperature gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image. In addition, the infrared showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths. The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including the wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped proplyds. In this manner, the movie illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA, ESA, and F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, M. Robberto, M. Gennaro (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC), M. Kornmesser (ESA)
Acknowledgement: A. Fujii, R. Gendler
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Visualizers
- Frank Summers (STScI) [Lead]
- Greg Bacon (STScI)
- Martin Kornmesser (ESA)
- Robert Hurt (IPAC)
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Image processing
- Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
- Lisa Frattare (STScI)
- Zoltan Levay (STScI)
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Video editor
- Leah Hustak (STScI)
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Scientists
- Mario Gennaro (STScI)
- Massimo Robberto (STScI)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Related Pages
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ID: 13320 Produced Video
Hubble Shows Torrential Outflows from Infant Stars May Not Stop Them from Growing
Read moreThough our galaxy is an immense city of at least 200 billion stars, the details of how they formed remain largely cloaked in mystery. Scientists know that stars form from the collapse of huge hydrogen clouds that are squeezed under gravity to the point where nuclear fusion ignites. But only about 30 percent of the cloud’s initial mass winds up as a newborn star. Where does the rest of the hydrogen go during such a terribly inefficient process?For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Additional Visualizations:Zoom In To Star Formation: ESA, Silicon WorldsWide Image of Orion Complex: Image courtesy of Rogelio Bernal Andreo, DeepSkyColors.comHerschel and Rosette Nebula: ESA - C. CarreauSpace Cloud: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)Zoom out of Milky Way: ESA, Silicon WorldsMusic Credits: "Winter Solstice" by Laetitia Frenod [SACEM] via Koka Media [SACEM], Universal Publishing Production Music France [SACEM], and Universal Production Music. ||
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