New images of the Flame Nebula have been released by the ESO. They are from a few years ago but are now part of the study. The images led to discoveries in the cloud complex.
Astronomers like to look at objects with new telescopes because they always see something new. Astronomers used the new SuperCam instrument on the APEX. The instrument was designed to look at the cloud complex and other targets.
The image is part of a survey. The image is from a few years ago, but was recently processed and included in a paper.
The paper is titled "The APEX Large CO Heterodyne Orion Legacy Survey (ALCOHOLS)". The lead author is Thomas Stanke. The paper is going to be published in a journal.
The cloud complex is hundreds of light-years away and between 1300 and 1600 light-years away. It is one of the most active star-forming regions that we can see with the naked eye. There are young, newly-born stars with disks, emission nebulae and reflection nebulae. The area of the sky is often studied by astronomer and astrophysicists.
The team behind this work observed the Flame Nebula and other structures in its surroundings. They got a good look at the reflection of the stars and other objects.
The Flame Nebula is captured in radio waves. The image is based on observations done with the SuperCam instrument on the APEX. There is a feature on the left. There is a reflection on the right. The Horsehead Nebula appears to emerge from the "flames" to the top right. The three objects are part of a giant gas structure located between 1300 and 1600 light-years away. The colour of the gas indicates its speed. The red clouds in the background are moving faster than the yellow ones in the foreground, as the Flame Nebula and its surroundings move away from us.
In a press release announcing the study and the new images, lead author Thomas Stanke said that there will always be something new and interesting to discover.
They discovered a small spherical cloud called the Cow Nebula Globule. It appears cometary in structure in optical light, but is actually a spherical cloud of gas. It is also starless.
The team discovered a feature that was starless. The cloud of gas is round and starless. Stanke et al 2021.
The Flame Nebula is a highlight in the new images. It is about 900 to 1500 light-years away, and is lit up by Alnitak, the triple-star system at the eastern end of the Belt.
The image shows the position of the Flame Nebula. It shows the three stars in the belt with Alnitak on the left. The Flame and Horsehead are visible. The work is owned by Mvln and can be found at the Wikimedia Commons.
The gases are ionized by the rays of Alnitak and emit light at different wavelength. The Flame Nebula is an active star-forming region, like the cloud complex of clouds that it is a part of. There are many young stars in the center of the Flame Nebula. Many of the disks may never have the chance to form planets. The Hubble Telescope shows that the young stars are damaging the disks.
The Flame Nebula region is seen in this image. The image was captured in the rectangle and the background was provided by theDSS2. The image is Credit: ESOTh. Stanke and the European Observatory have a Sky Survey 2. Davide De Martin was acknowledged.
The region of the sky around the Flame Nebula can be seen in this spectacular visible light wide-field view. The gas clouds are illuminated by young blue stars. The photographs were taken in red and blue light. The view is three degrees. The Flame Nebula is shown in a different context in this image. The Horsehead Nebula is shown in the image. The image is from the ESO and Digitized Sky Survey 2.
The region of space known as the Orion Complex is full of stars and gas. It is the nearest high-mass star birth region full of young stars and young stars. The authors hope that future studies will reveal even more, as this study adds more detail to all that knowledge. The conclusion of the study says they only scratched the surface of what they can expose.
We can enjoy the images.
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