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Image Gallery > Astronomical Images > Star Formation > ssc2007-08a

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Z. Balog (Univ. of Ariz./Univ. of Szeged)

The Heart of the Rosette

This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Rosette nebula, a pretty star-forming region more than 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. In optical light, the nebula looks like a rosebud, or the "rosette" adornments that date back to antiquity.

But lurking inside this delicate cosmic rosebud are super hot stars, called O-stars, whose radiation and winds have collectively excavated layers of dust (green) and gas away, revealing the cavity of cooler dust (red). Some of the Rosette's O-stars can be seen in the bubble-like, red cavity; however, the largest two blue stars in this picture are in the foreground, and not in the nebula itself.

This image shows infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 24 microns is red; light of 8 microns is green; and light of 4.5 microns is blue.

To download, choose your preferred resolution and file format below. "High-Resolution" files will always be the highest resolution and widest crop available, intended for print. Other resolutions are provided for convenient on-screen viewing.

Screen-Resolution (450x360) : JPEG (116 KB)
Medium-Resolution (900x720) : JPEG (328 KB)
High-Resolution (3000x2400) : JPEG (1.5 MB) | Mac TIFF (8.4 MB) | PC TIFF (8.4 MB)

About the Object (1)
Object name: NGC2244, Rosette Nebula
Object type: Star-Forming Region
Position (J2000): RA: 06h 31m 58.00s Dec: 4° 54' 51.00"
Distance: 5200 light-years
Constellation: Monoceros

About the Data

Spitzer Data

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Z. Balog (Univ. of Ariz./Univ. of Szeged)
Instrument: IRAC + MIPS
Wavelength: 4.5 microns, 8.0 microns, and 24 microns
Exposure Date: 2004/03/09, 2004/03/09, 2005/05/16
Exposure Time: 20.8s, 20.8s, 80.0s
Image scale: 34 x 29 arcmin
Orientation: North is 85.8 deg CW from up
Release Date: 2007/04/18

Observers

Zoltan Balog (University of Arizona/University of Szeged)
James Muzerolle (University of Arizona)
G. H. Rieke (University of Arizona)
Kate Y. L. Su (University of Arizona)
Eric T. Young (University of Arizona)
Tom Megeath (University of Toledo, Ohio)

Additional Info

Press Release: Astronomers Map Out Planetary Danger Zone

INDIVIDUAL IMAGES

Image without packaging.
Screen-Resolution (450x388): JPEG
High-Resolution (1669x1439): JPEG | Mac TIFF | PC TIFF
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Z. Balog (Univ. of Ariz./Univ. of Szeged)

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