NASA has created a mystifying puzzle that is out of this world.
The American space agency shared the puzzle on its Hubble Telescope Instagram page, challenging viewers to name cosmic wonder within 15 seconds.
The short video shows just parts of a star-forming region 1,350 light-years from Earth, revealing more of its glowing gas and dust as the seconds go on.
The Hubble first observed the dense area of space in 1993, capturing a giant gas cloud illuminated by the brightest of the young hot stars.
The short video shows just parts of a star-forming region 1,350 light-years from Earth, revealing more of its glowing gas and dust as the seconds go on
‘It’s the closest major star-forming region to Earth. It’s named after a hunter from mythology,’ NASA Hubble shared in the picture caption.
‘Plus, it’s home to four massive, young stars called the Trapezium, which shape this nebula. Do you know what this Hubble image shows?’
The correct answer is the Orion Nebula that formed about two million years ago.
The Orion Nebula is about 24 light-years across – one light-year is about six trillion miles – and is the closest large star-forming region to Earth, allowing it to be seen by the naked eye.
It was discovered in 1610 by the French scholar Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc and first photographed in 1880 by American physician Henry Draper.
Draper’s image featured a black background with what looked like bright white gas and light exploding in the sky.
‘The nebula is an enormous cloud of dust and gas where vast numbers of new stars are being forged,’ NASA shared in a blog.
‘Its bright, central region is the home of four massive, young stars that shape the nebula.
The correct answer is the Orion Nebula that formed about two million years ago
‘The four hefty stars are called the Trapezium because they are arranged in a trapezoidal pattern.
‘Ultraviolet light unleashed by these stars is carving a cavity in the nebula and disrupting the growth of hundreds of smaller stars.’
The last time Hubble photographed the nebula was in 2004, but its view was obscured by the large amounts of stardust.
However, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) released the next snapshot in 2022 that showed new details.
The nebula was previously photographed by the Hubble Telescope (left) in 2004, but this device uses visible light and its view was obscured by the large amounts of stardust. James Webb (right) was able to capture infrared light, allowing it to look past the dust
The image captured an open cluster of young massive stars that shape the cloud of dust and gas with its intense radiation and dense filaments that may play a key role in birthing new stars.
The new starts emit light which in turn causes the gas cloud to turn stunning reds, blues and greens.
Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) associate professor Emilie Habart said in a 2022 statement: ‘We have never been able to see the intricate fine details of how interstellar matter is structured in these environments, and to figure out how planetary systems can form in the presence of this harsh radiation.
‘These images reveal the heritage of the interstellar medium in planetary systems.’
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