Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Dramatic Features of the Orion Nebula in Exquisite Detail

Hubble's Sharpest View of the Orion Nebula

This dramatic image offers a peek inside a cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. The image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, represents the sharpest view ever taken of this region, called the...

Close-Up Images of the Orion Nebula

These are six views of the Orion Nebula which pinpoint some of the region's most interesting features. Orion in miniature [top left] – A massive star is illuminating this small region, called M43, and sculpting the landscape of dust and gas. Astronomers call the area a miniature...

Orion in Miniature

A massive star is illuminating this small region, called M43, and sculpting the landscape of dust and gas. Astronomers call the area a miniature Orion Nebula because of its small size and the single star that is shaping it. The Orion Nebula itself is much larger and has four...

Pillars of Gas

These dense, dark pillars of dust and gas are resisting erosion from intense ultraviolet light released by the Orion Nebula's biggest stars.

The Orion Nebula's Biggest Stars

Packed into the center of this region are bright lights of the Trapezium stars, the four heftiest stars in the Orion Nebula. Ultraviolet light unleashed by these stars is carving a cavity in the nebula and disrupting the growth of hundreds of smaller stars. The dark speck near...

Sculpting the Landscape

This glowing region reveals arcs and bubbles formed when stellar winds - streams of charged particles ejected by the Trapezium stars - collide with material.

Over the Edge

This dark red column shows an illuminated edge of the cavity wall.

Failing Stars

The faint red stars in this close-up image are the myriad brown dwarfs that Hubble spied for the first time in the Orion Nebula in visible light. Sometimes called "failed stars," brown dwarfs are cool objects that are too small to be ordinary stars because they cannot sustain...

Abstract Art Found in the Orion Nebula

Close inspection of the 2006 Hubble Space Telescope color mosaic of the Orion Nebula (M42) reveals numerous treasures that reside within the nearby, intense star- forming region. Southwest of the Trapezium stars located in the center of the nebula, a stunning Hubble Heritage...

Evolution of the Orion Nebula (M42)

Radiation and wind from a nebula's stars push surrounding gas away, creating cavities within the nebula's cloud. In the Orion Nebula, several hot, young central stars, called the Trapezium, have carved out the core of the nebula. This cavernous core has broken through the part...

Location of the Orion Nebula Details

Location of details cropped from the full HST/ACS Orion Nebula image (yellow rectangles). The blue outline shows the border of the mosaic produced from individual ACS/WFC fields.

"The Orion Nebula" – Handout

This dramatic image offers a peek inside a cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. The image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, represents the sharpest view ever taken of this region, called the...

Orion Constellation

Orion, one of the most recognized constellations, is visible high in the night sky during winter. It includes several prominent, bright stars including the red giant Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) at upper left and blue giant Rigel (Beta Orionis) at lower right. In the center is...

The Orion Complex

Wide view of the Orion complex showing the belt including the Horsehead region at top and the Orion Nebula near the bottom.

Ground-based View of the Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula region revealing the Trapezium cluster (bright blue stars near the center of the image), much detail in the bright glowing gas of the Orion Nebula, and surrounding dark dust lanes obscuring more distant emission.

Spitzer and Hubble Create Colorful Masterpiece

A new image from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes looks more like an abstract painting than a cosmic snapshot. The magnificent masterpiece shows the Orion nebula in an explosion of infrared, ultraviolet and visible-light colors. It was "painted" by hundreds of baby...

HubbleMinute: Hubble Snaps the Clearest View of the Orion Nebula

HubbleMinute discussing the location of the Orion Nebula, what we see within the star-formation region, and the effects of interstellar winds in shaping the nebula. The Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team captured over 3,000 stars of various ages, sizes, masses,...

Interview with Massimo Robberto

Interview with Massimo Robberto (STScI/ESA) talking about how we see the entire history of star formation printed on the features of the Orion Nebula.

Zoom in to Orion Nebula

A zoom into the Orion Nebula starting with images made from Akira Fujii, David Malin and into the Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys mosaic revealing intricate details of stars, binaries, discs, clouds of dust and glowing gas.

Close-up Region of Bow Shocks in Orion Nebula

A pan along a region in the Orion Nebula that reveals the fine details captured by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys across several bow shocks.

3D Fly-Through of the Orion Nebula

This scientific visualization takes the viewer across interstellar space and into a 3D model of the Orion Nebula. Seven individual shots of about ten seconds each are cross-faded together to form the sequence. After traversing among the stars, the camera descends through Orion's...