News Release Archive: Entire Collection

News Release 134 of 703

January 11, 2006 10:00 AM (EST)

News Release Number: STScI-2006-01

Hubble Panoramic View of Orion Nebula Reveals Thousands of Stars

An American Astronomical Society Meeting Release

In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an unprecedented look at the Orion Nebula. This turbulent star formation region is one of astronomy's most WATCH: HubbleMinute Video Hubble Minute: Hubble Snaps the Clearest View of the Orion Nebula Hubble Minute: Hubble Snaps the Clearest View of the Orion Nebula READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space.  dramatic and photogenic celestial objects. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. Some of them have never been seen in visible light. These stars reside in a dramatic dust-and-gas landscape of plateaus, mountains, and valleys that are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. The Orion Nebula is a picture book of star formation, from the massive, young stars that are shaping the nebula to the pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars.

Read more:

Credit: NASA,ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team