Highlights of Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | ESO

Highlights of Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | ESO

This panel highlights three regions from an image of the reflection nebula Messier 78 that was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. The upper panel covers the most northerly part of the nebula and reveals the illuminating star at its heart and many complex dust structures. The central panel highlights the rich textures of the dust clouds around the central part of Messier 78. The lower panel shows the peculiar, highly variable, McNeil’s Nebula as well as many strange pink features created by jets from newborn stars.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO) and Igor Chekalin

Release Date: February 16, 2011

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #McNeilsNebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Orion & Horsehead Nebulas over ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile

Orion & Horsehead Nebulas over ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile

The Orion Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula visible in a single exposure over one of the Auxiliary Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Paranal.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/B.Tafreshi 

Release Date: March 29, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulas #HorseheadNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #VLT #LaSillaObservatory #CerroParanal #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Reflection Nebula NGC 1999 in Orion | Hubble

Reflection Nebula NGC 1999 in Orion | Hubble

NGC 1999 is a dust-filled bright nebula with a vast hole of empty space represented by a black patch of sky, as can be seen in this photograph. It is a reflection nebula, and shines from the light of the variable star V380 Orionis.

Distance: 1,500 light years

Just weeks after NASA astronauts repaired the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999, the Hubble Heritage Project snapped this picture of NGC 1999, a nebula in the constellation Orion. The Heritage astronomers, in collaboration with scientists in Texas and Ireland, used Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) to obtain this color image.

Credit: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI)

Release Date: March 2, 2000

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #OrionNebula #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #NGC1999 #StarV380Orionis #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #WFPC2 #GSFC #STScI #AURA #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Orion Nebula: The Jewel in the Sword | ESO

The Orion Nebula: The Jewel in the Sword | ESO

This image shows smaller, particularly interesting areas and delicate tracery created at the so-called Orion Bright Bar. Intense ultraviolet-light and strong winds from the hot Trapezium stars are eating their way into the surrounding molecular cloud. Also visible are a number of very young red objects partly hidden in the cloud, waiting to be revealed as new members of the Trapezium Cluster.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/M.McCaughrean et al. (AIP)

Release Date: January 17, 2001

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #OrionNebula #OrionBrightBar #TrapeziumCluster #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Panning across Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | ESO

Panning across Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | ESO

This video takes a close-up look at a richly detailed view of the star formation region Messier 78, in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), taken with the VISTA infrared survey telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. As well as the blue regions of reflected light from the hot young stars the image also shows streams of dark dust and the red jets emerging from stars in the process of formation.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/N. Risinger 

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: October 12, 2016

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Infrared #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VISTA #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming into Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | ESO

Zooming into Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | ESO

This zoom sequence opens with a wide-field view of the Milky Way. We close in on the constellation of Orion and, as we zoom in on to a region close to Orion’s famous belt, a fascinating region of dust and reflection nebulosity starts to come into view. The final scene reveals a colorful and richly detailed new image of Messier 78 taken with the VISTA infrared survey telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/S. Brunier/Chris Johnson

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: October 12, 2016

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VISTA #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Messier 78: A Reflection Nebula in Orion | ESO

Messier 78: A Reflection Nebula in Orion | ESO

This image of the reflection nebula Messier 78 was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. This color picture was created from many monochrome exposures taken through blue, yellow/green and red filters, supplemented by exposures through a filter that isolates light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times were 9, 9, 17.5 and 15.5 minutes per filter, respectively.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Igor Chekalin

Release Date: February 16, 2011

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Birth of the Hunter | ESO

The Birth of the Hunter | ESO

The constellation of Orion (The Hunter) is one of the most recognisable collections of stars in the night sky. We have noted Orion’s prominent stars for tens of thousands of years at least, and likely far longer. Chinese astronomers called it 参宿 or Shēn, literally “three stars”, for its three bright dots (which form the Hunter’s belt). The ancient Egyptians regarded it as the gods Sah and Sopdet, manifestations of Osiris and Isis, respectively, whereas Greek astronomers saw a brave hunter—the eponymous Orion—with his sword above his head, ready to strike.

Mythology aside, Orion is a fascinating patch of sky. This image, from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, shows a reflection nebula nestled at the heart of the constellation—NGC 2023. Located close to the well-known Horsehead and Flame Nebulae, NGC 2023 lurks about 1,500 light-years away from Earth, and is one of the largest reflection nebulae in the sky.

Reflection nebulae are clouds of interstellar dust that reflect the light from nearby or internal sources, like fog around a car headlight. NGC 2023 is illuminated by a massive young star named HD 37903. The star is extremely hot—several times hotter than the Sun—and its bright blue-white light causes NGC 2023’s milky glow. Such nebulae are often the birthplaces of stars, and contain a clumpy distribution of gas that’s significantly denser than the surrounding medium. Under the influence of gravity, these clumps attract one another and merge, eventually creating a new star. In a few million years time, Orion's Belt may gain a new star!

The image was taken with the Very Large Telescope’s FORS (FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph) instrument as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems program. This initiative produces images of interesting and visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education and outreach. The program makes use of telescope time that cannot be used for science observations. All data collected may also be suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers through ESO’s science archive.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: May 13, 2019

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #NGC2023 #Star #HD37903 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #FORS #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Zoom into Double Star within Orion's Trapezium Cluster | ESO

Zoom into Double Star within Orion's Trapezium Cluster | ESO

As part of the first observations with the GRAVITY instrument, the European Southern Observatory team looked closely at the bright, young stars known as the Trapezium Cluster, located in the heart of the Orion star-forming region. Already, from these first data, GRAVITY made a discovery: one of the components of the cluster (Theta1 Orionis F) was found to be a double star for the first time.

This zoom video starts with a broad view of the famous constellation of Orion (The Hunter) and then shows successively more detailed images of the region with different telescopes. The final view from GRAVITY reveals far finer detail around one of the fainter cluster stars than could be detected even with the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

Distance: 1,500 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/M. McCaughrean/GRAVITY consortium, Nick Risinger

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: January 13, 2016

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #StarCluster #TrapeziumCluster #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #GRAVITY #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Trapezium Cluster | ESO

The Trapezium Cluster | ESO

The Orion Nebula is arguably the finest of all nebulae within the Milky Way visible from the Northern Hemisphere. With a gaseous repository of 10,000 suns, and illuminated by a cluster of hot young stars, the clouds of Messier 42—as it is also known—glow with fantastic colors and shapes, giving us a bird’s eye view of one of the greatest star forming nurseries in our part of the Milky Way. Messier 42 is a complex of glowing gas, mostly hydrogen but also helium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in decreasing amounts, located 1,500 light-years away. At its very heart, we find the Trapezium, a group of four very hot stars that illuminate the nebula. They are the brightest of an extended cluster of several thousand young stars many of which lie unseen within the opaque gas and dust. Amazingly, while the Orion Nebula is easy to identify with the unaided eye, there is apparently no written record of its existence before the 17th century. The Trapezium Cluster was discovered by Galileo Galilei.

Distance: 1,500 light years

This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5 m Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile, through three filters (B: 60 s, V: 30 s, R: 21 s). East is at the upper right corner and North is at the lower right.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R.Gendler, J.-E. Ovaldsen, and A. Hornstrup

Release Date: December 3, 2009

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #StarCluster #TrapeziumCluster #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #DanishTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education 

Part of The Orion Nebula: Wide-field View | ESO's APEX Telescope

Part of The Orion Nebula: Wide-field View | ESO's APEX Telescope

This wide-field view shows a region of sky in the famous constellation of Orion (The Hunter), as seen in visible light. The large, bright feature at the top of the image is the well-known Orion Nebula (Messier 42). This view was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

Release Date: January 23, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #APEX #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education 

A Close Look at Part of The Orion Nebula | ESO's APEX Telescope

A Close Look at Part of The Orion Nebula | ESO's APEX Telescope

This sequence shows a spectacular region of star formation in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter). We start with a detailed image in visible light from the Digitized Sky Survey images and then fade in and out the very different picture that is seen at much longer millimeter wavelengths. The orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust. It was observed by the European Southern Observatory-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO), Digitized Sky Survey 2

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: May 15, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #APEX #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming in on Star Formation in The Orion Nebula | ESO's APEX Telescope

Zooming in on Star Formation in The Orion Nebula | ESO's APEX Telescope

We start this video with a view of most of the Milky Way and then zoom in on the famous constellation of Orion (The Hunter). Many clouds of gas and dust appear in this region where many new stars are being formed. In the final view of a patch of the sky close to the famous Orion Nebula (Messier 42) we add in a new view from the European Southern Observatory-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile. The orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, at wavelengths too long for human eyes to see.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Nick Risinger, Digitized Sky Survey 2

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: May 15, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #APEX #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Star Formation in The Orion Nebula | ESO's APEX Telescope

Star Formation in The Orion Nebula | ESO's APEX Telescope

This dramatic image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. The orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, at wavelengths too long for human eyes to see. It was observed by the European Southern Observatory-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile.

Distance: 1,400 light years

In this image, the submillimeter-wavelength glow of the dust clouds is overlaid on a view of the region in the more familiar visible light, from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The large bright cloud in the upper right of the image is the well-known Orion Nebula, also called Messier 42.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Release Date: May 15, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #APEX #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Panning across "Setting The Dark on Fire in Orion" | ESO's APEX Telescope

Panning across "Setting The Dark on Fire in Orion" | ESO's APEX Telescope

An image from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile shows a beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in the region of Orion. While these dense interstellar clouds seem dark and obscured in visible-light observations, APEX's LABOCA camera can detect the heat glow of the dust and reveal the hiding places where new stars are being formed. The video pans over the region around the reflection nebula NGC 1999 in visible light, with the APEX observations overlaid in brilliant orange tones that seem to set the dark clouds on fire.

Distance: 1,500 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/APEX (MPIfR/ESO/OSO)/T. Stanke et al./Digitized Sky Survey 2

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: February 14, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #OrionNebula #Nebula #NGC1999 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #APEX #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zoom into "Setting The Dark on Fire in Orion" | ESO's APEX Telescope

Zoom into "Setting The Dark on Fire in Orion" | ESO's APEX Telescope

An image from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile shows a beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in the region of Orion. While these dense interstellar clouds seem dark and obscured in visible-light observations, APEX's LABOCA camera can detect the heat glow of the dust and reveal the hiding places where new stars are being formed.

Distance: 1,500 light years

The video begins with a wide-field view of the sky in visible light, before zooming in to the constellation of Orion and the region around the reflection nebula NGC 1999, with the APEX observations overlaid in brilliant orange tones that seem to set the dark clouds on fire.

Credit: ESO/APEX (MPIfR/ESO/OSO)/T. Stanke et al./Digitized Sky Survey 2/Nick Risinger

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: February 14, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #OrionNebula #Nebula #NGC1999 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #APEX #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video