Take a Peek at the Orion Nebula with the Latest Images from NASA
The space region features a star bright enough to be seen from Earth.
If you're hungry for a mid-week existential crisis, then great news, the James Webb telescope is back with fresh images from the far depths of the great unknown. Although space may seem like a dark, frigid expanse of seemingly limitless scope, there's still a lot going on out there.
The latest NASA image comes from the inner region of the Orion Nebula. The image is a composite of several infrared filters layered on top of one another. The final result displays a stunning array of ionized gas emissions, molecular gas, hydrocarbon, space dust, and starlight.
One of the smaller stars featured in the top right of the image is charmingly referred to as HST-10. It's one of about 180 young stars with "photo-evaporating disks" that have been discovered in the Orion Nebula, scientists said in a statement.
The brightest star in this image is θ2 Orionis A, and it's just bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from a dark spot on Earth. Light reflecting off of nearby stardust causes the red glow in its immediate surroundings.
Now, maybe next the telescope can direct us to Tatooine? I have some words for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Ready to go stargazing?
Here are all the best stargazing events that you can get out and see this month or you could stay in a stream the northern lights from home. If you're just getting started, check out our guide to astronomy for beginners or easy stargazing road trips from big US cities.