Glorious Orion: Chaotic and Overcrowded Stellar Nursery

Credit: UKIRT/JAC, Spitzer Telescope., Posted on: Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 06:22 CDT Download full size image

This spectacular image combines observations from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. It shows just a small portion of the region surveyed. In this figure, parts of the Orion Molecular cloud are illuminated by nearby stars and therefore glow an eerie green colour. The jets punch through the cloud and can be seen as a multitude of tiny pink-purple arcs, knots and filaments. The young stars that drive the jets are usually found along each jet and are coloured golden orange.

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