19.1.15

Astronomy picture of the day - 19-01-2015 - Infrared Orion from WISE

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Infrared Orion from WISE 
Image Credit: WISEIRSANASAProcessing & Copyright Francesco Antonucci
Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion is an intriguing place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion. But this image, an illusory-color four-panel mosaic taken in different bands ofinfrared light with the Earth orbiting WISE observatory, shows the Orion Nebula to be a bustling neighborhood or recently formed stars, hot gas, and dark dust. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the stars of theTrapezium star cluster, seen near the center of the above wide field image. The orange glow surrounding the bright stars pictured here is their own starlight reflected by intricate dust filaments that cover much of the region. The currentOrion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.

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