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This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible and infrared light.  The sequence begins with a wide-field view of the sky showing the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, then zooms down to the scale of the Orion Nebula.  The visible light observation (from the Hubble Space Telescope) and the infrared light observation (from the Spitzer Space Telescope) are compared first in 2D images, and then in 3D models.  As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views.  The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster.  The infrared observations generally show cooler temperature gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image.  In addition, the infrared showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths.  The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including the wispy bow shocks (magnetic field of an astrophysical object interacting with the nearby flowing ambient plasma) and tadpole-shaped proplyds (an externally illuminated photoevaporating disk around a young star). In this manner, the movie illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy.  For those asking, the speed through the Nebula is about 2 light-years per second, or roughly 60 million times the speed of light.  The Orion Nebula is an area of active star formation, and people on Earth can spot it by looking for the middle star-like bright spot in the sword held by the Orion constellation.   Music: “Dvorak – Serenade for Strings Op22 in E Major larghetto”, performed by The Advent Chamber Orchestra.

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