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 November 2

                           Inside the Flame Nebula
     Image Credit & Copyright: Optical: DSS; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech;
    X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/ K.Getman, E.Feigelson, M.Kuhn & the MYStIX team

   Explanation: The Flame Nebula stands out in this optical image of the
   dusty, crowded star forming regions toward Orion's belt, a mere 1,400
   light-years away. X-ray data from the Chandra Observatory and infrared
   images from the Spitzer Space Telescope can take you inside the glowing
   gas and obscuring dust clouds though. Swiping your cursor (or clicking
   the image) will reveal many stars of the recently formed, embedded
   cluster NGC 2024, ranging in age from 200,000 years to 1.5 million
   years young. The X-ray/infrared composite image overlay spans about 15
   light-years across the Flame's center. The X-ray/infrared data also
   indicate that the youngest stars are concentrated near the middle of
   the Flame Nebula cluster. That's the opposite of the simplest models of
   star formation for the stellar nursery that predict star formation
   begins in the denser center of a molecular cloud core. The result
   requires a more complex model; perhaps star formation continues longer
   in the center, or older stars are ejected from the center due to
   subcluster mergers.

                    Tomorrow's picture: surfin' the rings
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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