NASA has created a puzzling puzzle that is out of this world.
The US space agency shared the puzzle on the Hubble Telescope’s Instagram page, challenging viewers to name a cosmic wonder in 15 seconds.
The short video shows only parts of a star-forming region 1,350 light-years from Earth. As the seconds pass, more and more of the glowing gas and dust becomes visible.
Hubble first observed this dense region of space in 1993, capturing a gigantic cloud of gas illuminated by the brightest young, hot stars.
The short video shows only parts of a star-forming region 1,350 light-years from Earth, with more of the glowing gas and dust revealed as the seconds pass
“It is the closest major star-forming region to Earth. It is named after a hunter from mythology,” NASA Hubble shared in the photo’s caption.
“It’s also home to four huge, young stars called the Trapezium, which are shaping this nebula. Do you know what this Hubble image shows?”
The correct answer is the Orion Nebula, which formed about two million years ago.
The Orion Nebula is about 24 light-years across (one light-year is about ten trillion kilometers) and is the closest major star-forming region to Earth, so you can see it with the naked eye.
It was discovered in 1610 by French scientist Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc and first photographed in 1880 by American physician Henry Draper.
Draper’s image consisted of a black background with what appeared to be bright white gas and light exploding in the air.
“The nebula is a vast cloud of dust and gas in which enormous numbers of new stars are being forged,” NASA said in a blog post.
‘In the bright central region are four large, young stars that shape the nebula.
The correct answer is the Orion Nebula which formed about two million years ago
The four large stars are called the Trapezium because they are arranged in a trapezoidal pattern.
‘The ultraviolet light emitted by these stars creates a cavity in the nebula and disrupts the growth of hundreds of smaller stars.’
The last time Hubble photographed the nebula was in 2004, when the view was obscured by large amounts of stardust.
NASA’s The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) released a new snapshot in 2022 that revealed new details.
The nebula was previously photographed by the Hubble Telescope (left) in 2004, but this instrument uses visible light and the view was obstructed by the large amounts of stardust. James Webb (right) was able to capture infrared light, allowing him to see beyond the dust
The image shows an open cluster of young, massive stars that shape the cloud of dust and gas with their intense radiation and dense filaments. These filaments may play an important role in the birth of new stars.
The new stars emit light, causing the gas cloud to turn brilliant red, blue and green colors.
Emilie Habart, an associate professor at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), said in a 2022 statement: “We have never been able to see the intricate details of how interstellar matter is structured in these environments, and to figure out how planetary systems can form in the presence of this hard radiation.
“These images reveal the legacy of the interstellar medium in planetary systems.”