Viral: NASA releases picture of Orion Nebula

Team Udayavani, May 23, 2021, 11:07 AM IST

Source: NASA

NASA recently shared a mesmerizing picture of the Orion Nebula, which is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth.

The Orion Nebula known as M42 is estimated to be 24 light-years across and has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun.

 

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The picture shows a burst of colours with glimmering stars and soft clouds of dust and gas.

NASA shared the post on its Instagram and captioned, “Fun fact: inside this nearby stellar nursery is an action-packed bar! The Orion Bar, that is. Located diagonally in the lower left quadrant of this image, the Orion Bar formed by young, massive stars blasting ultraviolet light at the cloud of dust and gas from which they’re born, sculpting it into the shape of a bar.”

The caption further read, “More like a layered cake than your favorite watering hole, this location’s different zones will be studied for the first time by a team of international scientists using our James Webb Space Telescope.”

Note that the Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky and is also among the most intensely studied celestial features.