Orion in a New Light (HD)

Take a look at the WOW-rion Nebula

ESO / Igor Chekalin

This image of the Orion Nebula was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. This image is a composite of several exposures taken through five different filters. The exposure times were about 52 minutes through each filter.

Alan Boyle writes:The Orion Nebula is one of the best-known star-forming regions in our celestial neighborhood, but astronomers can still find some "hidden treasures" if they just look at the nebula in a different light.

Case in point: this ethereal picture of the Orion Nebula, featured today by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The image is based on data from the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, and submitted by Russia's Igor Chekalin for the ESO's Hidden Treasures astrophotography competition. This particular image took seventh place. Another one of Chekalin's entries, showing the M78 reflection nebula in Orion, won first prize (and earned Chekalin a trip to Chile).

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The Orion Nebula, also known as M42, is a huge complex of gas and dust where massive stars are constantly being squeezed into existence. It's about 1,350 light-years away, which is pretty close by astronomical standards. You've probably already figured out that the nebula is in the constellation Orion, which is at center stage in the night sky at this time of year.

The hidden treasures that Chekalin found were data sets from roughly 52-minute exposures taken in five different wavelengths. The rays of light that passed through a red filter and through a filter sensitive to glowing hydrogen gas are represented as red in this image. Light in the yellow-green part of the spectrum is shown here as green. The blue-filter image is reproduced as blue, and ultraviolet shows up as purple. The result is a beautiful picture that sheds new light on the nebula's gauzy structure.

For additional perspectives, check out this ESO vidcast from last year, which compares infrared and visible-light imagery of the Orion Nebula: