NICMOS CAPTURES THE HEART OF OMC-1

The Orion Nebula M42

1. AAT Telescope
2. Hubble Space Telescope
1. HST Mosaic of M42 region
2. HST Mosaic Detail
3. Proplyds
4. Research Detail
5. Piercing the clouds with NICMOS
3. Subaru Telescope

The infrared vision of the Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) provides a dramatic new look at star formation inside the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC).

NICMOS reveals the intense star formation activity occurring inside the cloud, because it detects the infrared radiation emitted by the newly formed stars.

Press Release Text

Source:
WFPC2 image -- C. Robert O'Dell, Shui Kwan Wong (Rice University) and NASA. NICMOS image -- Rodger Thompson, Marcia Rieke, Glenn Schneider, Susan Stolovy (University of Arizona); Edwin Erickson (SETI Institute/Ames Research Center); David Axon (STScI), and NASA. STSCI

New stars are forming deep inside the clouds of the Orion Nebula. Their visible light can't reach us - it is blocked by dust and gas in the clouds. However, as the NICMOS infrared image shows, the vast amounts of heat radiated by the new stars passes right through the clouds, unabsorbed.

This is a side-by-side comparison of
visible light (WFPC2) and infra-red light (NICMOS) images
taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.