Starship Asterisk*

Orion in Gas, Dust, and Stars

Explanation: The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row. A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters, all embedded in an extended patch of gaseous wisps in the greater Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The brightest three stars on the far left are indeed the famous three stars that make up the belt of Orion. Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the three belt stars, is the Flame Nebula, glowing with excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust. Below the frame center and just to the right of Alnitak lies the Horsehead Nebula, a dark indentation of dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky. On the upper right lies M42, the Orion Nebula, an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas, visible to the unaided eye, that is giving birth to a new open cluster of stars. Immediately to the left of M42 is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man that houses many bright blue stars. The above image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500 light years away and spans about 75 light years.

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A spectacular image! Rogelio Andreo definitely belongs in the APOD Hall of Fame.

WoW! Awesome picture. Allot like another recent one....

Been too cold and cloudy here to get out the telescope, but Orion is one of my favorite places to look at....

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Mactavish wrote:A spectacular image! Rogelio Andreo definitely belongs in the APOD Hall of Fame.

Absolutely! Rogelio is a hero!

Ann

Fantastic image, congratulations Rogelio, this is a Super-Apod.

This image should be a reference for all of us, when we want to talk about the Constellation of Orion.

Best Regards,

Alfonso.

The belt and the sword' don't forger the horses head;--Nice! All that I like about this APOD !

Wonderful work!!

I'm totally envious of those that can see the Orion Nebula with unaided eyes!

This is a phenomenal composite. Definitely an inspiration for imagination. I am awestruck at the beauty. I agree with zonalunar, this should be used in Orion constellation discussions.

Oh my goddess and god. This image gets my vote for astronomy picture of the year -- and it's only the middle of February.

The Horsehead nebula was my first target ( if my mermory serves me well ) after i bought a telescope ( 1963 ) from Kresge with my Christmas money in Ann Arbor, Mi. Doesn't look like the nebula has changed much since. Oh yes, it did attract clouds.