Hubble Panoramic View of Orion Nebula Reveals Thousands of Stars

*Description*: Location of details cropped from the full HST/ACS Orion Nebula image (yellow rectangles). The blue outline shows the border of the mosaic produced from individual ACS/WFC fields. Technical facts about this news release: About the Object Object Name: Orion Nebula (M42, NGC 1976) Object Description: Emission Nebula Position (J2000): R.A. 05h 35m 17s Dec. -05° 23' 28" Constellation: Orion Distance: The distance to the Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years (460 parsecs). Dimensions: The image is 30 arcminutes (13 light-years or 4.0 parsecs) square. About the Data Data Description: The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 10246: M. Robberto (STScI/ESA), C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), L.A. Hillenbrand (Caltech), M. Simon (SUNY Stony Brook), P. McCullough (STScI), J. Krist (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), F. Palla (Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri), M. Romaniello (ESO ? Germany), J. Najita (NOAO/AURA), E.D. Feigelson (The Pennsylvania State University), R. Makidon (STScI), J. Stauffer (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); N. Panagia, I.N. Reid, D.R. Soderblom, and E. Bergeron (STScI); and K.G. Stassun (Vanderbilt University). The Hubble data was superimposed onto a ground-based image taken from the 2.2 meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory ? La Silla. Instrument: ACS ESO MPI 2.2m La Silla WFI Exposure Date(s): October 2004 - April 2005 December 11, 2001 Filters: F435W ("B") F555W ("V") F658N (Ha) F775W ("i") F850LP("z") ESO842 ("B") ESO856 (Ha) ESO857 ([S II]) ESO859 ([O III]) About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA), and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team Release Date: January 11, 2006 Color: This image is a composite mosaic of many separate expposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope and the ESO La Silla 2.2 meter telescope using several different filters isolating the light of specific elements or of specific broad wavelength ranges. The color arises by assigning different hues (colors), to each monochromatic image. In this case, the colors are: HST: F658N Ha red/orange F850LP "z" red F775W "i" red F555W "V" green F435W "B" blue ESO MPI 2.2m La Silla WFI Dec. 11, 2001: NB#Halpha/7_ESO856 Ha red NB#SIIr/8_ESO857 [S II] red NB#OIII/8_ESO859 [O III] green BB#B/99_ESO842 "B" blue Compass/Scale: Hubble's Sharpest View of the Orion Nebula [ http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2006/01/images/a/formats/compass_large_web.jpg ] What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an unprecedented look at the Orion Nebula. This turbulent star formation region is one of astronomy's most WATCH: HubbleMinute Video Hubble Minute: Hubble Snaps the Clearest View of the Orion Nebula Hubble Minute: Hubble Snaps the Clearest View of the Orion Nebula [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/01/video/a/ ] READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2006/01/ ] dramatic and photogenic celestial objects. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. Some of them have never been seen in visible light. These stars reside in a dramatic dust-and-gas landscape of plateaus, mountains, and valleys that are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. The Orion Nebula is a picture book of star formation, from the massive, young stars that are shaping the nebula to the pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/01/text/ ] * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/01/full/ ] *News Release Number:*: STScI-2006-01l
NASA Identifier: SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-2006-01l