Detecting dust belt in Orion nebula

The Orion Nebula is one of the favorite targets of astronomers who want to observe the universe. Recently experts from the Southern Astronomical Observatory Center of Europe (ESO) have published photographs showing a dust belt in the nebula 1,300 light-years from Earth.

Orange dust belt in Orion nebula - (Photo: National Geographic)

According to National Geographic, the Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky, visible to the naked eye. ESO images show an orange cosmic dust belt around the nebula, shining brightly through infrared lenses, but cannot be observed with the naked eye.

With infrared cameras, ESO's Atacama Pathfinder (APEX) telescope system, located in the desert region of Chile, astronomers can look through this cold dust belt to observe the stars. Children are being formed in the Orion Nebula.

International experts took advantage of the power of the ESO telescope system and the Herschel Astronomical Observatory Center on Earth orbit to observe the Orion nebula to detect newly formed stars. So far NASA has found 15 young stars in this area.