APOD: Infrared Orion from WISE (2013 Feb 13)

[APOD Robot]

Infrared Orion from WISE

Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion is an intriguing place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion. But this image, an illusory-color composite of four colors of infrared light taken with the Earth orbiting WISE observatory, shows the Orion Nebula to be a bustling neighborhood of recently formed stars, hot gas, and dark dust. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the stars of the Trapezium star cluster, seen near the center of the above wide field image. The eerie green glow surrounding the bright stars pictured here is their own starlight reflected by intricate dust filaments that cover much of the region. The current Orion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.

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[bystander]

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=30678

[revloren]

I see a fish...or a seahorse.

[revloren]

Woah, my desktop image is rotated 90* from the APOD. Same when you click on it.

[Boomer12k]

The way the different shades of colors are iterated, reminds me of a Mandelbrot set. Each iteration was a different level, like the contours of a lake. This is a fascinating image. Would have been great for Halloween.


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[MargaritaMc]

The way the different shades of colors are iterated, reminds me of a Mandelbrot set. Each iteration was a different level, like the contours of a lake. This is a fascinating image. Would have been great for Halloween.


:---[===] *

Could you unpack that for me, Boomer?
This helped a bit

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Margarita

[orin stepanek]

Oh my! Orion with green dust!
Ti's a beautiful picture!

[ta152h0]

same green that makes comet Lemon green ? or is this filter trickery ?

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

If anyone can find order in that chaos, I think they'll win the prize

[Ann]

same green that makes comet Lemon green ? or is this filter trickery ?

It's total, complete filter trickery! Or maybe it was The Green Man who painted the whole thing green?

Ann

[Boomer12k]

THANKS!!! Margarita, That was AWESOME!!!!!

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[Boomer12k]

The whole thing looks like a smokey, wispy, butterfly. It is really a great pic.

The things we can't see with our eyes!

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[Chris Peterson]

same green that makes comet Lemon green ? or is this filter trickery ?

There's no trickery involved. Neither is there any green. This is an infrared image, with the shortest captured wavelength being 3.4 μm (green light being around 0.5 μm). Indeed, most of the green in this image appears to represent 12 μm emissions.

Naturally, there would be no point in representing the color channels in their original wavelengths, unless your monitor could produce them and your eyes detect them!

[bystander]

same green that makes comet Lemon green ? or is this filter trickery ?

Color in this image represents specific infrared wavelengths. Blue represents light emitted at 3.4-micron wavelengths and cyan (blue-green) represents 4.6 microns, both of which come mainly from hot stars. Relatively cooler objects, such as the dust of the nebulae, appear green and red. Green represents 12-micron light and red represents 22-micron light.

[LocalColor]

Another "WOW"!!!!

[ta152h0]

Can you take an image of comet Lemon using the same trickery ?

[geckzilla]

Can you take an image of comet Lemon using the same trickery ?

trick·er·y
1. the use or practice of tricks or stratagems to deceive; artifice; deception.
2. a trick used to deceive.

source

I suggest you find another word to use. Technique, perhaps?

[Chris Peterson]

Can you take an image of comet Lemon using the same trickery ?

Click to view full size image

You could certainly image a comet in the IR band from 3-22 μm, but you'd need to use WISE or some other infrared camera that was above the atmosphere, since about half that range doesn't make to to the ground.

This is a WISE image of Comet 65/P Gunn, made a few years ago. It used the same IR channels as today's APOD, but mapped to different colors.

[ta152h0]

Can you take an image of comet Lemon using the same tecnique ?

keeping the big poohbas on my side

[geckzilla]

Just trying to help you with your language deficiency, Wolf. I definitely didn't have the moderator hat on for that post.

[nstahl]

Two housekeeping comments:
1. The link at the top that should take us to the APOD just keeps us here.

2. A day or two ago I posted the APOD permalink to Facebook because I liked it especially and there the preview had a small version of the picture. I did it today and only got the URL. It would be nice to get a thumbnail for FB consistently.

Okay, now the link at the top does as it should. ?? Way too soon for someone to have seen that and fixed it.

[bystander]

A day or two ago I posted the APOD permalink to Facebook because I liked it especially and there the preview had a small version of the picture. I did it today and only got the URL. It would be nice to get a thumbnail for FB consistently.

APOD has a facebook page. You can share the image from there (even if it's a video).

[Bondidog]

A great photograph with well chosen colour mapping.

Pity the grammar of the supporting text wasn't as good.

[Anthony Barreiro]

Can you take an image of comet Lemon using the same trickery ?

Click to view full size image

You could certainly image a comet in the IR band from 3-22 μm, but you'd need to use WISE or some other infrared camera that was above the atmosphere, since about half that range doesn't make to to the ground.

This is a WISE image of Comet 65/P Gunn, made a few years ago. It used the same IR channels as today's APOD, but mapped to different colors.

Thanks Chris. I couldn't figure out why there would be warm stuff in front of the comet's nucleus, so I followed the link you provided:

Just ahead of the comet is an interesting fuzzy red feature that makes it look something like a swordfish, or narwhal. This "sword," or dust trail, is made of dust particles that have previously been shed by 65/P Gunn as it orbits the sun. The dust is warmed by sunlight and glows in infrared light. Trails appear both ahead and behind the comet's nucleus and have a narrow, contrail-like appearance. They represent the first stages in the evolution of meteoroid streams. Over time, the material in the debris trail can drift away from the comet's orbit and become clouds of debris that will be seen as meteor showers if Earth passes through them.

And yes, it's all trickery as far as I'm concerned.

[Mactavish]

I suggest you find another word to use. Technique, perhaps?

How about "technikery" ?