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HOPS Sources in Orion
This ground-based image offers a wide view of the entire Orion cloud complex, the closest major star-forming region to Earth.
The red material is hydrogen gas ionized and heated by ultraviolet radiation from massive stars in Orion. The stars are forming in clouds of cold hydrogen gas that are either invisible or appear as dark regions in this image. The crescent shape is called Barnard's Loop and partly wraps around the winter constellation figure of Orion the Hunter. The hunter's belt is the diagonal chain of three stars at image center. His feet are the bright stars Saiph (bottom left) and Rigel (bottom right).
This landscape encompasses tens of thousands of newly forming stars bursting to life. Many are still encased in their natal cocoons of gas and dust and only seen in infrared light.
The undulating line of yellow dots, beginning at lower left, is a superimposed image of 304 nascent stars taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
Researchers used NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Telescope to analyze how young stars' powerful outflows carve out cavities in the vast gas clouds. The study is the largest-ever survey of developing stars.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.05:35:17
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.-05:23:28
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Orion
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.1,344 light-years
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Orion Nebula
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.HOPS Sources identified in yellow over a wide-field image of Orion
- Release DateMarch 18, 2021
- Science ReleaseHubble Shows Torrential Outflows from Infant Stars May Not Stop Them from Growing
- CreditsRogelio Andreo (RBA Premium Astrophotography)
Related Images & Videos
Clean Image Infant Stars in Orion
These four images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal the chaotic birth of stars in the Orion complex, the nearest major star-forming region to Earth. The snapshots show fledgling stars buried in dusty gaseous cocoons announcing their births by unleashing powerful...
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Details
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA, ESA, STScI, Nolan Habel (UToledo), Tom Megeath (UToledo)
