Film & Animation

Journey Into the Orion Nebula

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This visualization journeys into the famous star-forming region of the Orion Nebula based on an image from the Hubble Space Telescope. This exhilarating trip begins by flying through a layer of gas above the nebula, called the “veil”. The descent to the gaseous surface provides an overview of the structure of the region as the winds and radiation from the central cluster have carved out a long “valley” in the cloud. The massive bright stars are responsible for heating the gas to temperatures at which it glows. Their strong stellar winds also blow back the gas around nearby newly formed stars creating tadpole-shaped structures. Within these objects, called proplyds, planets may be forming inside dark, dusty disks encircling the stars. These young stars can also emit jets of radiation which, in turn, create wispy bow shocks throughout the region. All of these features are found in the Hubble image and have been modeled for this visualization.... Read More

Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light [Ultra HD]

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This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible and infrared light. The sequence begins with a wide-field view of the sky showing the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, then zooms down to the scale of the Orion Nebula. The visible light observation (from the Hubble Space Telescope) and the infrared light observation (from the Spitzer Space Telescope) are compared first in two-dimensional images, and then in three-dimensional models.... Read More