Zee Media Bureau\Philaso G Kaping
New Delhi: NASA has released a stunning picture of the Orion Nebula which was constructed using infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
The false-color view spans about 40 light-years across the stellar nursery, situated 1,500 light years away, and highlights the level of cosmic activity in the nebula with hues of red, green and yellow. “Compared to its visual wavelength appearance, the brightest portion of the nebula is likewise centered on Orion`s young, massive, hot stars, known as the Trapezium Cluster. But the infrared image also detects the nebula`s many protostars, still in the process of formation, seen in red hues,” said NASA.
“In fact, red spots along the dark dusty filament to the left of the bright cluster include the protostar cataloged as HOPS 68, recently found to have crystals of the silicate mineral olivine within its protostellar envelope.”
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech