New image shows spectacular firework show put on by Orion's Flame Nebula

The picture shows a spectacular firework show occurring in the Flame Nebula or NGC 2024, a large star-forming region in the constellation Orion that lies about 1,400 light-years from Earth.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has shared a new breathtaking image of Orion's Flame Nebula to celebrate the holiday season. The spectacular image was captured by the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), the largest submillimetre-wavelength telescope operating in the southern hemisphere.

The picture shows a spectacular firework show occurring in the Flame Nebula or NGC 2024, a large star-forming region in the constellation Orion that lies about 1,400 light-years from Earth. The fire in this new image is Orion's Flame Nebula and its surroundings captured in radio waves.

In addition to Flame Nebula, a wide range of other spectacular objects were observed using the SuperCam instrument at APEX. These include the reflection nebulae Messier 78 and NGC 2071 - clouds of interstellar gas and dust believed to reflect the light of nearby stars.

1/ The "fire" you see in this holiday postcard is Orion's Flame Nebula and its surroundings captured in radio waves by the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX).🔗 https://t.co/8pIiyjl8i5 📸 ESO/Th.Stanke & ESO/J.Emerson/VISTA Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit pic.twitter.com/4OYhQh1QNM

— ESO (@ESO) January 4, 2022

The new image is based on observations conducted by former ESO astronomer Thomas Stanke and his team a few years ago. The observations are presented in a paper accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, ESO said in a photo/press release on Tuesday.