The Dramatic Center of the Orion Nebula (2017)
Orion Nebula, M42, NGC 1976
The distance to the Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years (460 parsecs).
The image is 7.9 arcminutes (3.4 light-years or 1.1 parsecs) wide.
ACS/WFC: F435W (B), F555W (V), and F775W (i)
WFC3/IR: F139M
NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team
This image is a composite mosaic of many separate exposures made by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters isolating the light of specific elements or of specific broad wavelength ranges. The color arises by assigning different hues (colors), to each monochromatic image. In this case, the colors are:
Blue: F435W (B)
Cyan: F555W (V)
Yellow: F775W (i)
Red: F139M
This dramatic view of the center of the Orion Nebula is the home of a grouping of hefty, young stars, called the Trapezium Cluster. Several hundred stars are sprinkled throughout the image. Many of them appear red because their light is being scattered by dust.
NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team
