A Flame in Orions Belt

Wise_wise2010-043_1024

wise_WISE2010-043 December 2nd, 2010

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

This mosaic image taken by NASAs Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, features three nebulae that are part of the giant Orion Molecular Cloud. The image covers an area of the sky about three times as high and wide as the full moon (1.5 by 1.8 degrees). Included in this view are the Flame nebula, the Horsehead nebula and NGC 2023.

Despite its name, there is no fire roaring in the Flame nebula. What makes this nebula shine is the bright blue star seen to the right of the central cloud. This star, Alnitak, is the easternmost star in Orions belt. Wind and radiation from Alnitak blasts away electrons from the gas in the Flame nebula, causing it to become ionized and glow in visible light. The infrared glow seen by WISE is from dust warmed by Alnitaks radiation. Also known as NGC 2024 and Orion B, this nebula is classified as a molecular cloud.

The famous Horsehead nebula appears in this image as a faint bump on the lower right side of the vertical dust ridge. In visible light, this nebula is easily recognizable as a dramatic silhouette in the shape of a horses head. It is classified as a dark nebula because the dense cloud blocks out the visible light of the glowing gas behind it. WISEs infrared detectors can peer into the cloud to see the glow of the dust itself.

A third nebula, called NGC 2023, can be seen as a bright circle in the lower half of the image. NGC 2023 is classified as a reflection nebula, meaning that the dust is reflecting the visible light of nearby stars. But here WISE sees the infrared glow of the warmed dust itself.

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

This image was made from data collected after WISE began to run out of its supply of solid hydrogen cryogen in August 2010. Cryogen is a coolant used to make infrared detectors more sensitive. WISE mapped the entire sky by July using four infrared detectors, but during the period from August to October, 2010, while the cryogen was depleting, WISE had only three detectors operational, and the 12-micron detector was less sensitive. This turned out to be a good thing in the case of this image, because the less-sensitive detector reduced the glare of the Flame portion of the nebula enough to bring out details of the rest of the nebula.

Provider: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

Image Source: /image/wise/WISE2010-043

Curator: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Berkeley, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Pulic Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Flame Nebula Horsehead Nebula NGC 2024 Barnard 33
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Nebula > Appearance > Emission
Nebula > Appearance > Dark

Distance

Universescale1
1,000 light years

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 41m 46.1s
DEC = -1° 57’ 10.3”
Field of View
1.5 x 1.8 degrees
Constellation
Orion

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue WISE Infrared (Near-IR) 3.4 µm
Green WISE Infrared (Near-IR) 4.6 µm
Red WISE Infrared (Mid-IR) 12.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Green
Red
Wise_wise2010-043_1280
×
ID
WISE2010-043
Subject Category
B.4.1.2.   B.4.2.1.   B.4.2.3.  
Subject Name
Flame Nebula, Horsehead Nebula, NGC 2024, Barnard 33
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team
Release Date
2010-12-02
Lightyears
1,000
Redshift
Reference Url
/image/wise/WISE2010-043
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
WISE, WISE, WISE
Instrument
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3400, 4600, 12000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
85.4421161, -1.9528598
Reference Dimension
4000.0, 4700.0
Reference Pixel
2001.0, 2351.0
Scale
-0.000382016, 0.00038201636
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
URL
http://wise.astro.ucla.edu
Name
Email
outreach@ssl.berkeley.edu
Telephone
Address
7 Gauss Way
City
Berkeley
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
94720
Country
USA
Rights
Pulic Domain
Publisher
Publisher ID
wise
Resource ID
Resource URL
/image/wise/WISE2010-043
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-08-05
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
1,000 light years

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