Explanation:
At the edge of a dense
molecular
cloud, filaments of gas, cosmic dust, and
a multitude of young stars beckon in this penetrating image
of the Orion Nebula.
Alluring structures in the well-known star forming region
are
revealed here in infrared light as viewed
by a new Hawaiian eye - WFCAM - a powerful wide field camera
commissioned at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope
(UKIRT)
on Mauna Kea.
Only a fraction
of WFCAM's full field, this
picture covers about 11 light-years at the 1,500 light-year
distance of the nebula.
In the image, otherwise invisible
infrared
light has been
mapped into visible colors.
Red represents narrow-band infrared emission from hydrogen
molecules at a wavelength of 2.12
microns,
green is emission at 2.2 microns, and
blue is emission at 1.25 microns.
Visible light has a wavelength of about 0.5 microns
(micrometers).
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