BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula

This is one of series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula, obtained with ESO's Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the Trapezium cluster. The dust is more transparent at longer wavelengths and the complex is clearly seen in this image obtained with TIMMI2 at wavelengths of 20.0µm. It shows in some detail the structures around the compact sources and the extended thermal emission from the dust. The brighter areas are the hotter ones.

Technical information: This image shows a similar Q-band (20.0 µm) mosaic, obtained with the same observing procedure. Both photos show diffraction limited structures in a 30 x 42 arcsec 2 sky field.