“Fingers” in short-wavelength NIRCam Orion mosaic in ESASky
This is a screenshot from the ESA Sky platform showing some of the ‘fingers’ emanating from the central star-forming `BN-KL’ region in the short-wavelength mosaic behind the Trapezium Cluster and visible Orion Nebula. These fingers are expanding rapidly at hundreds of kilometres per second away from an explosive event that took place in the BN-KL region 500 to 1,000 years ago. They appear red because they emit in shocked molecular hydrogen and the green tips are due to ionised iron. The image can be viewed on ESA Sky here.
Credit:NASA, ESA, CSA
Science leads and image processing: M. McCaughrean, S. Pearson