Gas Plume From a Newborn Star
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture of a hypersonic shock wave (lower right) of material moving at 148,000 miles per hour in the Orion Nebula, a star-forming region 1,500 light-years away.
Studies of similar objects infer that such highly supersonic shock waves are formed by a beam of material coming out of newly formed stars.
The plume is only 1,500 years old. The image is 112 light-year across.
This color photograph is a composite of separate images taken at the wavelengths of the two abundant elements in the nebula: Hydrogen and Oxygen. The images were taken with HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (in wide field mode), on August 13 and 14, 1991.
Credit:C.R. O'Dell (Rice University), and NASA
About the Image
NASA press release
| Id: | opo9229b |
|---|---|
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 16 December 1992, 06:00 |
| Size: | 2862 x 2111 px |
About the Object
| Name: | M 42, Messier 42, NGC 1976, Orion Nebula |
|---|---|
| Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
| Distance: | 1400 light years |
| Constellation: | Orion |
| Category: | Nebulae |
Classic Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 5 35 20.06 |
|---|---|
| Position (Dec): | -5° 24' 53.94" |
| Field of view: | 1.17 x 0.86 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 155.0° left of vertical |
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Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
|---|---|
| Optical |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC1 |