Protostar HOPS-68 in Orion
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Megeath (University of Toledo, Ohio)
Observation • May 26th, 2011 • ssc2011-06c1
ssc2011-06c1
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detected tiny green crystals, called olivine, thought to be raining down on a developing star. An arrow points to the embryonic star, called HOPS-68. It is located in the dark filamentary cloud of cold dust and gas, over 5 light-years in length, located just north of the Orion nebula, which is seen here as the bright region at the bottom of the image.
About the Object
- Name
- HOPS 68 • Orion Nebula • Messier 42 • M42 • NGC 1976
- Type
- Nebula > Type > Star Formation
- Nebula > Appearance > Dark
- Star > Evolutionary Stage > Protostar
- Distance
- 1,450 Light Years
Color Mapping
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Infrared | 3.6 µm | Spitzer IRAC |
| Infrared | 4.5 µm | Spitzer IRAC |
| Infrared | 8.0 µm | Spitzer IRAC |
| Infrared | 24.0 µm | Spitzer MIPS |
Astrometrics
- Position (J2000)
- RA =5h 35m 16.3s
- Dec = -6° 0' 51.2"
- Field of View
- 0.8 x 1.4 degrees
- Orientation
- North is up
