Colour rendering of Orion Nebula area

This is a composite of three 1-min exposures of the Orion Nebula through narrow band filters centred on the 2.166 micron Br-gamma atomic hydrogen line (here reproduced in blue colour), the 1.257 micron [FeII] line (green) and the 2.12 micron 1-0 S(1) molecular hydrogen line (red). The colour coding reflects the ionisation state of the gas. Br-gamma traces hydrogen gas that is ionised by the well known Trapezium and other hot, young, stars in the region ; the [FeII] emission is emitted by high velocity fragments ejected during the birth of new stars in the OMC1 molecular cloud. The hollow filaments seen in molecular hydrogen result from shock heating of the molecular gas in the wake of the outflowing matter. In this image, the scale is 0.29 arcsec/pixel ; the field is 5x5 arcmin with North at the top and East to the left ; the seeing was around 0.5 arcsec.

Credit:

ESO/N. Devillard

About the Image

Id:eso9805a
Type:Observation
Release date:29 January 1998
Related releases:eso9805
Size:450 x 450 px

About the Object

Name:Orion Nebula
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Distance:1400 light years
Constellation:Orion
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

Large JPEG
72.6 KB
Screensize JPEG
154.9 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
159.3 KB
1280x1024
218.1 KB
1600x1200
271.6 KB
1920x1200
288.5 KB
2048x1536
365.1 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):5 35 14.19
Position (Dec):-5° 22' 9.15"
Field of view:4.92 x 4.92 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Infrared
Br-gamma
2.166 μmNew Technology Telescope
SOFI
Infrared
Feiii
1.257 μmNew Technology Telescope
SOFI
Infrared
H2
New Technology Telescope
SOFI