Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light

By combining the visible and infrared capabilities of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, astronomers and visualization specialists from NASA’s Universe of Learning program have created a spectacular, three-dimensional, fly-through movie of the magnificent Orion Nebula, a nearby stellar nursery. Using actual scientific data along with Hollywood techniques, the team produced the best and most detailed multi-wavelength visualization yet of the Orion Nebula.

The sequence begins with a wide-field view of the sky showing the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, then zooms down to the scale of the Orion Nebula. The visible-light observation (from the Hubble Space Telescope) and the infrared-light observation (from the Spitzer Space Telescope) are compared first in two-dimensional images, and then in three-dimensional models.

As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views. The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster. The infrared observations generally show cooler temperature gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image. In addition, the infrared showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths. The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including the wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped proplyds. In this manner, the movie illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, M. Robberto, and M. Gennaro (STScI), and R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)

Video Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, and M. Robberto (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC), M. Kornmesser (ESA), and A. Fujii; Acknowledgement: R. Gendler; Music: “Dvorak — Serenade for Strings Op22 in E Major larghetto,” performed by The Advent Chamber Orchestra, CC BY-SA