Orion nebula

Photo: Orion’s Hidden Dusty Ribbon Revealed

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Nationalgeographic, By: Andrew Fazekas, 05/15/2013

 

In this image, the deep infrared glow of the orange hued ribbon shaped dust clouds is overlaid on a view of the region in the more familiar visible light,. The large bright cloud in the upper right of the image is the well-known Orion Nebula. Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2

 

The Orion nebula  is one of the most favorite spots for stargazers to explore in the heavens, but this week astronomers are releasing a stunning new look to this giant stellar nursery 1300 light years from Earth.

 

A fiery cosmic ribbon glows with orange colors as grains of cold interstellar dust light up like a neon sign, shining bright in the far infrared part of the spectrum which is invisible to the human eye. This new image released by the European Southern observatory (ESO) shows this ribbon-like feature superimposed on a more familiar view of the cosmic clouds of dust visible in optical wavelengths. 

 

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