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.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/ K.Getman, E.Feigelson, M.Kuhn & the MYStIX team
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day