Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2019 August 31

                               Spitzer's Orion
                       Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

   Explanation: Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion
   Nebula, an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away.
   Spanning about 40 light-years across the region, this infrared image
   from the Spitzer Space Telescope was constructed from data intended to
   monitor the brightness of the nebula's young stars, many still
   surrounded by dusty, planet-forming disks. Orion's young stars are only
   about 1 million years old, compared to the Sun's age of 4.6 billion
   years. The region's hottest stars are found in the Trapezium Cluster,
   the brightest cluster near picture center. Launched into orbit around
   the Sun on August 25, 2003 Spitzer's liquid helium coolant ran out in
   May 2009. The infrared space telescope continues to operate though, its
   mission scheduled to end on January 30, 2020. Recorded in 2010, this
   false color view is from two channels that still remain sensitive to
   infrared light at Spitzer's warmer operating temperatures.

                    Tomorrow's picture: sisters in space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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