Maelstrom of star birth
This is a stunning picture of the most famous stellar factory. In the Orion Nebula hundreds of stars are being born, or are in the early stages of their infancy. Most fascinating is the discovery of small planetary systems being formed around some of the stars in this nebula.
This spectacular colour panorama of the center the Orion nebula is one of the largest pictures ever assembled from individual images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture, seamlessly composited from a mosaic of 15 separate fields, covers an area of sky about five percent the area covered by the full Moon.
Credit:NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Rice University), and S.K. Wong (Rice University)
About the Image
NASA press release
Id: | opo9545a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 20 November 1995, 06:00 |
Size: | 2730 x 2940 px |
About the Object
Name: | Messier 42, Orion Nebula |
Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
Distance: | 1400 light years |
Constellation: | Orion |
Category: | Nebulae |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 5 35 13.94 |
Position (Dec): | -5° 23' 2.81" |
Field of view: | 7.07 x 7.61 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 0.1° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical Oiii | 502 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical H-alpha | 656 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical Nii | 658 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |