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Orion Bar (MIRI Image)

A hazy nebula made of many layers of cloudy, colourful material.

This image from Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) shows a small region of the Orion Nebula. At the center of this view is a young star system with a protoplanetary disk named d203-506. An international team of astronomers detected a new carbon molecule known as methyl cation for the first time in d203-506.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    5 35 20.29
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -5° 25' 4.50"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Orion
  • Distance
    DistanceThe 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.
    1,350 light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    0.65 x 0.64 arcminutes

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data 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.

    This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 1288 (O. Berné)

  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Orion Bar
  • Release Date
    June 26, 2023
  • Science Release
    Webb Makes First Detection of Crucial Carbon Molecule
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, PDRs4ALL ERS Team, Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print), 1275 × 1252
    tif (1.79 MB)
  • Full Res (For Display), 1275 × 1252
    jpg (246.86 KB)
A hazy nebula made of many layers of cloudy, colourful material.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam/MIRI instrument. Several filters were used to sample wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: 7.7 microns; Cyan: 11 microns; Orange: 15 microns; Red: 25 microns

Related Images & Videos

An image made of three panels. The largest on the left shows the NIRCam image of a nebula with two bright stars. A skewed box in the top-right has a line leading to a second panel at upper right, with a MIRI image of that area. A tiny box in the center of that panel is blown up in a third panel at lower right, with a zoomed-in, combined MIRI and NIRCam image of a yellow and orange blob.

Orion Bar Collage (NIRCam and MIRI Images)

These Webb images show a part of the Orion Nebula known as the Orion Bar. It is a region where energetic ultraviolet light from the Trapezium Cluster — located off the upper-left corner — interacts with dense molecular clouds. The energy of the stellar radiation is slowly...

A billowy nebula colored mostly blue on the left side and orange-brown on the right side.

Orion Bar (NIRCam Image)

This image taken by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows a part of the Orion Nebula known as the Orion Bar. It is a region where energetic ultraviolet light from the Trapezium Cluster — located off the upper-left corner — interacts with dense molecular clouds. The energy...

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, PDRs4ALL ERS Team, Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)

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