ESO Detects Stunning Flame Nebula’s Interstellar Clouds In Orion’s Fireplace

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has published some fantastic new photos of Orion's Flame Nebula. They're from a few years ago, but researchers reprocessed the data as part of the Orion cloud complex investigation. The photos have led to new findings in the Orion cloud complex, which is well-known.

Astronomers like using modern telescopes to observe well-known objects because they constantly see something new. That's what happened when astronomers utilized the ESO's Atacama Pathfinder Experiment's new SuperCam equipment (APEX).

Researchers processed the photo through APEX Large CO Heterodyne Orion Legacy Survey (ALCOHOLS). Although the photograph dates back a few years, it was just newly examined and included in a recently published report titled "The APEX Large CO Heterodyne Orion Legacy Survey (ALCOHOLS). I. Survey overview."

The Flame Nebula region as seen with APEX

(Photo: ESO/Th. Stanke)
This image shows the Flame Nebula and its surroundings captured in radio waves. The image is based on observations conducted with the SuperCam instrument on the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) on Chile’s Chajnantor Plateau.

ESO Sees Orion's Flame Nebula in Infrared

Orion is one of the most well-known constellations in the sky. It is home to the Sun's nearest gigantic molecular clouds, which are enormous cosmic objects formed mostly of hydrogen and where new stars and planets develop.

These clouds are between 1300 and 1600 light-years distant and include the Solar System's most active star nursery, as well as the Flame Nebula displayed in this picture.

1/ The “fire” you see in this holiday postcard is Orion’s Flame Nebula and its surroundings captured in radio waves by the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX).
🔗 https://t.co/8pIiyjl8i5
📸 ESO/Th.Stanke & ESO/J.Emerson/VISTA
Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit pic.twitter.com/4OYhQh1QNM
— ESO (@ESO) January 4, 2022

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The Flame Nebula dominates the left half of the picture below, enclosed by a yellow rectangle. A reflection of the nebula NGC 2023 can be seen on the right, while the Horsehead Nebula is in the upper right.

A tiny, spherical cloud known as the Cow Nebula Globule is one of their discoveries. It looks to be a cometary formation in optical light, but it's actually a circular, maybe spherical gas cloud. It's also devoid of stars.

In a statement, study lead author Thomas Stanke said: "As astronomers like to say, whenever there is a new telescope or instrument around, observe Orion: there will always be something new and interesting to discover!"

Orion Region Examined Several Times

Phys.org said this region of the sky had been examined many times in the past at different wavelengths, each wavelength range revealing different, unique aspects of Orion's molecular clouds, owing to the numerous mysteries it can uncover.

According to infrared observations conducted with ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, Flame Nebula and its surroundings have a calm background.

Infrared wavelengths, unlike visible light, can travel through large clouds of interstellar dust, allowing astronomers to see stars and other objects that would otherwise be concealed.