The Flame Nebula in Orion comes to life in a new image released by the European Southern Observatory based on data collected over several years by astronomer Thomas Stanke and a team using the SuperCam instrument at the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The newly processed radio image, which includes a variety of other nebulae like the famous Horsehead, is shown in a box superimposed on a visible-light background image of the region from the Digitised Sky Survey 2. The huge molecular clouds of Orion are the nearest to the sun, located between 1,300 and 1,600 light years from Earth. It is home to the most active stellar nursery in the local neighborhood.
Related Articles
Hubble sees the Force awakening in a newborn star
Just in time for the release of the movie “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens,” NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsabre. In the centre of the image, partially obscured by a dark, Jedi-like cloak of dust, a newborn star shoots twin jets out into space as a sort of birth announcement to the universe.