Orion in Gas, Dust, and Stars

The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row. A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters, all embedded in an extended patch of Alnitak, the lowest of the excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust. Below and left of the frame center and just to the right of Alnitak lies the M42, the Orion Nebula, an energetic caldron of blue stars. Thefeatured image covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500 light years away and spans about 75 light years.

from NASA

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About Unknown

It's my pleasure to introduce my self..well, I'm The Geekiest. I tie my own shoes, brush my own hair, and make my own bed... (well, only if my mom isn't at home.) During the day, I can be found sitting in an office cubicle, feverishly tapping my phone with hopes of getting a new high score on Tetris. I like to spend my evenings watching re-runs of Firefly while sipping on a glass of Chardonnay. I play a mean game of rock-paper-scissors (was the national champion for 2 years straight), and love the smell of pop tarts in the morning (part of a complete breakfast!)