Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2016

SPACE CHRONICLES n T hese comparison cutouts show how differently parts of this rich star-forming com- plex in Orion appear at different wavelengths. In the infrared images from the VISTA tele- scope (lower row) the dust is much more trans- parent than in the visi- ble light pictures from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope (upper row). [ESO/Igor Chekalin] dish and yellow colours shown clear- ly in this image. These colourful fledgling stars can be found in the dust bands around NGC 2071 and along the trail of dust running to- wards the left of the image. Some of these are T Tauri stars. Although relatively bright, they are not yet hot enough for nuclear fusion reactions to have commenced in their cores. In sev- eral tens of millions of years, they will attain full “star- hood”, and will take their place alongside their stel- lar brethren light- ing up the Messier 78 region. T his zoom sequence opens with a wide-field view of the Milky Way. We close in on the constella- tion of Orion and, as we zoom in on to a region close to Orion’s famous belt, a fascinating region of dust and reflection nebulosity starts to come into view. The final scene re- veals a colourful and richly detailed new image of Messier 78 taken with the VISTA infrared survey telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. [ESO/S. Brunier/Chris Johnson] and HD 38563B, shine brightly. To- wards the right of the image, the supergiant star illuminating NGC 2071, called HD 290861, is also seen. Besides big, blue, hot stars, VISTA can also see many stars that are just forming within the cosmic dust strewn about this region, their red- grains in pockets just barely warmer than their extremely cold surroundings. Even- tually new stars will form out of these pock- ets as gravity causes them to shrink and heat up. In between visible and submillimetre light lies the near-infrared part of the spectrum, where the Visible and Infrared Survey Tele- scope for Astronomy (VISTA) provides astronomers with crucial information. Beyond dusty reflections and through thinner portions of obscuring material, the luminous stellar sources within Mes- sier 78 are visible to VISTA’s eyes. In the centre of the image, two blue supergiant stars, called HD 38563A