A close look at an APEX view of part of the Orion Nebula

This sequence shows a spectacular region of star formation in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter). We start with a detailed image in visible light from the Digitized Sky Survey images and then fade in and out the very different picture that is seen at much longer millimetre wavelengths. The orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust. It was observed by the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile.