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Close-up of “Proplyds” in the Orion Nebula

Close-up of "Proplyds" in the Orion Nebula
A Hubble Space Telescope view of a small portion of the Orion Nebula reveals five young stars. Four of the stars are surrounded by gas and dust trapped as the stars formed, but were left in orbit about the star. These are possibly protoplanetary disks, or "proplyds," that might evolve on to agglomerate planets. The proplyds which are closest to the hottest stars of the parent star cluster are seen as bright objects, while the object farthest from the hottest stars is seen as a dark object. The field of view is only 0.14 light-years across. The Orion Nebula star-birth region is 1,500 light-years away, in the direction of the constellation Orion the Hunter. The image was taken on 29 December 1993 with the HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    05h 35m 17.29s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -5° 23' 27.99"
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Orion Nebula, M42, NGC 1976
  • Release Date
    June 13, 1994
  • Science Release
    Hubble Confirms Abundance of Protoplanetary Disks around Newborn Stars
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Credit: C.R. O'Dell/Rice University; NASA

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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