The hidden fires of the Flame Nebula*

Eso_eso0949a_1024

eso_eso0949a December 11th, 2009

Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

This image, the first to be released publicly from VISTA, the world’s largest survey telescope, shows the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings. In views of this evocative object in visible light the core of the nebula is completely hidden behind obscuring dust, but in this VISTA view, taken in infrared light, the cluster of very young stars at the object’s heart is revealed. The wide-field VISTA view also includes the glow of the reflection nebula NGC 2023, just below centre, and the ghostly outline of the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) towards the lower right. The bright bluish star towards the right is one of the three bright stars forming the Belt of Orion. The image was created from VISTA images taken through J, H and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. The image shows about half the area of the full VISTA field and is about 40 x 50 arcminutes in extent. The total exposure time was 14 minutes. This image is available as a mounted image in the ESOshop. #L

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0949a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Flame Nebula NGC 2024
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Eso_eso0949a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 41m 42.7s
DEC = -1° 54’ 44.2”
Orientation
North is 10.0° CCW
Field of View
42.9 x 52.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Orion

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VIRCAM) Infrared (K) -
Green Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VIRCAM) Infrared (H) -
Blue Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VIRCAM) Infrared (J) -
Eso_eso0949a_1280
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ID
eso0949a
Subject Category
B.4.1.2  
Subject Name
Flame Nebula, NGC 2024
Credits
ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
Release Date
2009-12-11T11:30:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0949a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Approximate distance in Light Years from AJ (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?2003ApJ...598..375S)
Facility
Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy
Instrument
VIRCAM, VIRCAM, VIRCAM
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
K, H, J
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
85.42804, -1.912271
Reference Dimension
3269.0, 4000.0
Reference Pixel
1554.51297706, 2740.21584651
Scale
-0.00021882349, 0.00021882349
Rotation
10.01263376856
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso0949a
Metadata Date
2009-11-16T11:11:25+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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