This scientific visualization takes the viewer across interstellar space and into a 3D model of the Orion Nebula. Seven individual shots of about ten seconds each are cross-faded together to form the sequence. After traversing among the stars, the camera descends through Orion’s veil of bluish gas, down the valley carved by winds and high energy radiation, and past the bright stars of the trapezium in the core of the nebula. The 3D model combines astronomical knowledge, scientific intuition, and artistic interpretation to create an awe-inspiring journey into the star forming cloud.

Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, L. Frattare, Z. Levay, and K. Litaker (STScI)
Acknowledgment: A. Mellinger, R. Gendler, and R. Andreo

Additional information about the Orion Nebula Hubble image is available on HubbleSite:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/01