This dramatic new image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. This orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, at wavelengths too long for human eyes to see. It was observed by the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile.
Clouds of gas and interstellar dust are the raw materials from which stars aremade. But these tiny dust grains block our view of what lies within and behindthe clouds -- at least at visible wavelengths -- making it difficult toobserve the processes of star formation.
This is why astronomers need to use instruments that are able to see at otherwavelengths of light. At submillimetre wavelengths, rather than blockinglight, the dust grains shine due to their temperatures of a few tens ofdegrees above absolute zero [1]. The APEX telescope with its submillimetre-wavelength camera LABOCA, located at an altitude of 5000 metres above sealevel on the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes, is the ideal tool forthis kind of observation.
This spectacular new picture shows just a part of a bigger complex called theOrion Molecular Cloud, in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter). A richmelting pot of bright nebulae, hot young stars and cold dust clouds, thisregion is hundreds of light-years across and located about 1350 light-yearsfrom us. The submillimetre-wavelength glow arising from the cold dust cloudsis _place_holder;seen in orange in this image and is overlaid on a view ofthe region taken in the more familiar visible light.
This dramatic new image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. The orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, at wavelengths too long for human eyes to see. It was observed by the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile.
In this image, the submillimetre-wavelength glow of the dust clouds is overlaid on a view of the region in the more familiar visible light, from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The large bright cloud in the upper right of the image is the well-known Orion Nebula, also called Messier 42.
(Photo Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2)
The large bright cloud in the upper right of the image is the well-known OrionNebula, also called Messier 42. It is readily visible to the naked eye as theslightly fuzzy middle "star" in the sword of Orion. The Orion Nebula is thebrightest part of a huge stellar nursery where new stars are being born, andis the closest site of massive star formation to Earth.
The dust clouds form beautiful filaments, sheets, and bubbles as a result ofprocesses including gravitational collapse and the effects of stellar winds.These winds are streams of gas ejected from the atmospheres of stars, whichare powerful enough to shape the surrounding clouds into the convoluted formsseen here.
Astronomers have used these and other data from APEX along with images fromESA's Herschel Space Observatory, to search the region of Orion for protostars-- an early stage of star formation. They have so far been able to identify 15objects that appeared much brighter at longer wavelengths than at shorterwavelengths. These newly discovered rare objects are probably among theyoungest protostars ever found, bringing astronomers closer to witnessing themoment when a star begins to form.
Source: ESO