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Hidden Stars

There are many young stars in the nebula. It is hard to see them because of the dust and gas which surrounds them. Astronomers search the nebula with detectors that are sensitive to light we can't see with our eyes. Some searches are in light that is beyond the blue end of the spectrum. Some searches are in light that is beyond the red end of the spectrum. This page shows images taken by astronomers using instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Beyond the Blue.... Looking at the Orion Nebula with ultra-violet light detectors!

Doug Johnstone and others at University of Toronto study the Orion Nebula by detecting ultra-violet light emitted from stars with instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope!

  Some stars have discs and and comet like tails of leftover dust. Such disc material makes planets. In some of these stars, the disc material is being swept away by the stellar wind from the brightest star of the Trapezium. So, it is unlikely that these stars will be able to keep their disc material in order to form planets. This is the kind of research being done by astronomers using detectors sensitive to the UV light emitted by stars.

Beyond the Red.... Looking at the Orion Nebula with infra-red light detectors!

 

Dust is transparent in IR light. So, when using infra-red detectors, it is as if astronomers can see right through the dusty nebula, detecting the IR light emitted from the stars inside the nebula.  The NICMOS camera, an infra-red camera, on the Hubble Space Telescope was the instrument used to take the image on the right.

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01/25/2000

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