Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Orion Nebula: The Hubble View

NASA ^ | July 15, 2012 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion Nebula. Also known as M42, the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away. The Orion Nebula offers one of the best opportunities to study how stars are born partly because it is the nearest large star-forming region, but also because the nebula's energetic stars have blown away obscuring gas and dust clouds that would otherwise block our view - providing an intimate look at a range of ongoing stages of starbirth and evolution. This detailed image of the Orion Nebula is the sharpest ever, constructed using data from the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys and the European Southern Observatory's La Silla 2.2 meter telescope. The mosaic contains a billion pixels at full resolution and reveals about 3,000 stars.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (STScI/ESA) et al. ]

[SunkenCiv]

APOD Collection: M42: The Orion Nebula

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[cripplecreek]

Now that is spectacular.

[bigheadfred]

I like attention to detail. That is a very cool pic.

[moose07]

Awesome, it reminds me of oil on water.

[the invisib1e hand]

Imagination-exciting-cosmic-vista alert.

[mikrofon]

Hubble-hubble!

[WSGilcrest]

I see boobies! Hey, if you can see a cat.

[SuziQ]

Just gorgeous!!

[Talisker]

Wow!

[dr_lew]

I continue to maintain that there is nothing like seeing it for yourself on a cold clear, and dark, winter night. The Orion Nebula is easily seen with the naked eye, and is unmatched by any other object using a low power instrument.

[RedMDer]

[SunkenCiv]

I wholeheartedly agree, wow/beautiful/etc.

And thanks dr_lew!