3D space tour: NASA ‘flies’ viewers through blazing Orion Nebula (VIDEO)
Situated around 1,350 light years away from Earth, the Orion Nebula’s blazing cluster of stars lights up clouds of dust and gas, giving it a glorious glow.
One of the brightest features of the Milky Way, it’s regarded as a “star nursery” where new celestial formations are born.
Images of the 2-million year-old star plateau have been captured by both the Hubble and Spitzer space telescope. They have now been used by experts in NASA and the Caltech/Infrared Processing and Analysis Center to construct an incredible 3D tour of the region.
Infrared light imagery used in the production gives viewers a glimpse of nebula features otherwise invisible to the naked eye. The video also sees the camera plunge into a 3D model of the Trapezium star cluster.
“Being able to fly through the nebula’s tapestry in three dimensions gives people a much better sense of what the universe is really like,” said Frank Summers, a Space Telescope Science Institute scientist, who helped create the 3D intergalactic excursion.
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“By adding depth and structure to the amazing images, this fly-through helps elucidate the universe for the public, both educating and inspiring.”
Summers added that the creation gives people a better understanding of images that are snapped by a network of space telescopes.
