by Ann » Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:09 am
Today's APOD appears to be a repeat from
January 19, 2015, although today's version is a closeup of the picture from 2015. I don't mind that this is a repeat, because it is a fascinating image.
Infrared imagery can really reveal fascinating information on starforming nebulas. So here are two versions of another infrared picture of the Orion Nebula, this time from Spitzer:
The picture at left shows a comparison between the Orion Nebula in infrared light and the Orion Nebula in visible light. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the dusty ridge stretching between M43 (the small round red nebula "above" M42) and The Running Man Nebula (at top). A lot of stars have formed along this ridge, but they can't be seen in optical light.
The picture at right shows a closeup of young stars and star formation along the dusty ridge, and it also shows a closeup of the Trapezium region in infrared.
One aspect that I find confusing in today's APOD is the pitch black feature that can be seen close to the center of the image, adjacent to the roundish object that is M43. A dark feature can actually be seen right next to M43 both in Spitzer's infrared image and in Adam Block's visible image.
What can that dark thing be? Maybe a hole in the nebula?
Ann
[float=left][img2]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1501/orionred_WISEantonucci_960.jpg[/img2]
[/float]
Today's APOD appears to be a repeat from [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150119.html]January 19, 2015[/url], although today's version is a closeup of the picture from 2015. I don't mind that this is a repeat, because it is a fascinating image.
Infrared imagery can really reveal fascinating information on starforming nebulas. So here are two versions of another infrared picture of the Orion Nebula, this time from Spitzer:
[float=left][img2]http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/uploaded_files/graphics/fullscreen_graphics/0008/6570/ssc2006-16c_Sm.jpg[/img2][/float] [float=right][img2]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Ssc2006-16b.jpg/720px-Ssc2006-16b.jpg[/img2][/float]
The picture at left shows a comparison between the Orion Nebula in infrared light and the Orion Nebula in visible light. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the dusty ridge stretching between M43 (the small round red nebula "above" M42) and The Running Man Nebula (at top). A lot of stars have formed along this ridge, but they can't be seen in optical light.
The picture at right shows a closeup of young stars and star formation along the dusty ridge, and it also shows a closeup of the Trapezium region in infrared.
One aspect that I find confusing in today's APOD is the pitch black feature that can be seen close to the center of the image, adjacent to the roundish object that is M43. A dark feature can actually be seen right next to M43 both in Spitzer's infrared image and in Adam Block's visible image.
What can that dark thing be? Maybe a hole in the nebula?
Ann