A new image of the Flame Nebula shows a cloud that has never been seen before.
A team of astronomer using the APEX telescope have captured the star-forming region in radio wavelength, revealing details that we had never seen before.
One of the most well-studied and imaged regions in the night sky is the Flame Nebula, which is close to the Horsehead Nebula.
astronomer Thomas Stanke of the European Southern Observatory says that whenever there is a new telescope or instrument around, observe it.
ESO/Th. Stanke and J. Emerson are members of the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.
The image shows the radio and IR wavelength.
The vast constellation of the Orion complex spans hundreds of light-years in all directions, starting at about 1,000 light-years from the Solar System. It's an excellent laboratory for studying how stars are born because it's so close.
The complex has many stellar nurseries. It's an emission nebula, which emits its own light, as opposed to reflection nebulas, which only shine with reflected starlight, and dark nebulas, which don't shine at all but shadow across the sky.
Emission nebula shine is due to the ionization of gases in the nebula by bright radiation from a nearby hot star. Young stars are often very hot and stellar nurseries tend to shine brightly. There are hundreds of newly formed stars in the center of the Flame Nebula.
The Flame Nebula is only visible in radio. ESO/Th. Stanke
Clouds of dense dust and gas obscure the stars in optical wavelength. An instrument that captures images in radio wavelength can capture details that our eyes can't see.
Stanke and his colleagues were able to trace the outflows of gas and the winds that drove it out into the space between the stars.
The researchers found a spherical cloud with no stars that was a perfect example of a nebula that had never been seen before. They believe that this object could be used to study cloud structure and dynamics, although more observations will need to be made to better understand its nature and properties.
The team's work can be found on arXiv.
There are versions of the Flame Nebula on the website.
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