Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2018

18 MARCH-APRIL 2018 SPACE CHRONICLES 3D journey through the Orion Nebula by NASA/ESA A stronomers and visualization specialists from NASA’s Uni- verse of Learning program have combined visible and infrared vision of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to create an un- precedented, three-dimensional, fly- through view of the picturesque Orion Nebula, a nearby star-form- ing region. Viewers experience this nearby stellar nursery “close up and personally” as the new digital visu- alization ferries them among new- born stars, glowing clouds heated by intense radiation, and tadpole- shaped gaseous envelopes sur- rounding protoplanetary disks. Using actual scientific imagery and other data, combined with Holly- wood techniques, a team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Cal- tech/IPAC in Pasadena, California, has created the best and most de- tailed multi-wavelength visualiza- tion yet of this photogenic nebula. The fly-through enables people to experience and learn about the uni- verse in an exciting new way. T his image showcases both the visible-light and the infrared-light visualizations of the Orion Nebula. This view from the movie sequence looks down the “val- ley” leading to the star cluster at the far end. The left side of the image shows the visible-light visualization, which fades to the infrared visualization on the right. These two contrasting models derive from observations by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. [NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Frattare, M. Robberto and M. Gennaro (STScI), and R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)] The three-minute movie, which shows the Orion Nebula in both vis- ible and infrared light, was released to the public Thursday, Jan. 11. It is available to planetariums and other centers of informal learning world- wide to help audiences explore fun- damental questions in science such as, “How did we get here?” “Being able to fly through the neb- ula’s tapestry in three dimensions gives people a much better sense of what the universe is really like,” ex- plained the Space Telescope Science Institute’s visualization scientist Frank Summers, who led the team that developed the movie. “ By ad- ding depth and structure to the amazing images, this fly-through helps elucidate the universe for the public, both educating and inspir- ing,” added Summers. “Looking at the universe in infrared light gives striking context for the more familiar visible-light views. This movie provides a uniquely im- mersive chance to see how new features appear as we shift to wavelengths of light normally in- visible to our eyes,” said Robert Hurt, lead visualization scientist at IPAC. One of the sky’s brightest nebulas, the Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye. It appears as the middle “star” in the sword of the constellation Orion, the Hunter, and is located about 1,350 light- years away. At only 2 million years old, the nebula is an ideal labora- tory for studying young stars and stars that are still forming. It offers a glimpse of what might have hap- pened when the Sun was born 4.6 billion years ago.