Orion Nebula and VISTA telescope views of the Orion Nebula

Orion Nebula and VISTA telescope views of the Orion Nebula: The Orion Nebula reveals many of its hidden secrets in a dramatic image taken by ESO's new VISTA survey telescope. VISTA — the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy — is the latest addition to ESO's Paranal Observatory. It is the largest survey telescope in the world and is dedicated to mapping the sky at infrared wavelengths. The telescope's huge field of view can show the full splendour of the Orion Nebula and VISTA's infrared vision also allows it to peer deeply into dusty regions that are normally hidden and expose the curious behaviour of the very active young stars buried there. The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion (from temperate zones in the Northern Hemisphere, the nebula appears below the Belt of Orion; from temperate zones in the Southern Hemisphere the nebula appears above the Belt). It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years[3][6] and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. It has a mass of about 2000 times the mass of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula.[7] The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky, and is among the most intensely studied celestial features.[8] The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula. From Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula‎ [3] Reid, M. J.; et al. (2009). "Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: VI. Galactic Structure, Fundamental Parameters and Non-Circular Motions". Astrophysical Journal 700: 137. arXiv:0902.3913. Bibcode:2009ApJ...700..137R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/700/1/137. [6] Hirota, Tomoya; Bushimata; Choi; Honma; Imai; Iwadate; Jike; Kameno; Kameya; et al. (2007). "Distance to Orion KL Measured with VERA". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan 59 (5): 897--903. arXiv:0705.3792. Bibcode:2007PASJ...59..897H. doi:10.1093/pasj/59.5.897. [7] "Nebula". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. [8] Press release, "Astronomers Spot The Great Orion Nebula's Successor", Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 2006. [9] Clark, Roger (2004-03-28). "Surface Brightness of Deep Sky Objects". Retrieved 2013-06-29.