A cosmic flame
Sparkling at the edge of a giant cloud of gas and dust, the Flame Nebula, also referred to as NGC 2024, is in fact the hideout of a cluster of young, blue, massive stars, whose light sets the gas ablaze. Located 1,300 light-years away towards the constellation of Orion, the nebula owes its typical colour to the glow of hydrogen atoms, heated by the stars. The latter are obscured by a dark, forked dusty structure in the centre of the image and are only revealed by infrared observations.
This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, combining three exposures in the filters B (40 seconds), V (80 seconds) and R (40 seconds).
Crédit:ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, J.-E. Ovaldsen, C. Thöne and C. Féron
À propos de l'image
Identification: | eso-flame |
Type: | Observation |
Date de publication: | 3 décembre 2009 23:20 |
Taille: | 2044 x 2075 px |
À propos de l'objet
Nom: | Flame Nebula, NGC 2024 |
Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
Distance: | 1500 années lumière |
Constellation: | Orion |
Catégorie: | Nebulae Stars |
Fonds d'écran
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 5 41 42.73 |
Position (Dec): | -1° 54' 43.66" |
Field of view: | 13.42 x 13.63 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 45.1° left of vertical |
Couleurs & filtres
Domaine | Longueur d'onde | Télescope |
---|---|---|
Visible B | 433 nm | Danish 1.54-metre telescope DFOSC |
Visible V | 544 nm | Danish 1.54-metre telescope DFOSC |
Visible R | 648 nm | Danish 1.54-metre telescope DFOSC |