@nasa

Happy Lunar New Year 🐲⁣ ⁣ Welcome to the year of the Dragon. In this three-dimensional view of the Orion Nebula – Earth’s closest star-formation nursery – was created using data from the SOFIA mission. It reveals detailed structure of the nebula, including a “bubble” that has been blown clear of gas and dust by a powerful stellar wind. In this way, massive stars can regulate star formation around them, and SOFIA helped astronomers better understand this effect.⁣ ⁣ The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was a mission of discovery, revealing unseen – and sometimes unseeable – parts of our universe. While science flights have ended, SOFIA’s data from a total of 732 nights observing over the course of the mission are publicly available for scientists to study and conduct further research in the future.⁣ ⁣ Image Description: A rotating three-dimensional view of the Orion Nebula in what appears to be in the shape of a dragon. The nebula has a blue center, with red wispy fragments on the outer detail.⁣ ⁣ Credit: NASA/SOFIA⁣ ⁣ #NASA #Space #LunarNewYear #YearOfTheDragon #Dragon #Orion #Nebula

February 10, 2024