NGC 2024

Often overlooked in the corner of horsehead nebula images, the flame nebula is a bright reflection nebula just next to the star Alnitak (ζOri).

The bright star Alnitak (ζ Ori), the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion, shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame and this knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the glowing gas. The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a star-forming region that includes the famous Horsehead Nebula just a coupe of arcminutes west to it.

At the center of the Flame Nebula is a cluster of newly formed stars, 86% of which have circumstellar disks, the sites of ongoing planet and star formation. X-ray observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory show several hundred young stars, out of an estimated population of 800 stars. X-ray and infrared images indicate that the youngest stars are concentrated near the center of the cluster. We wanted to spotlight that it’s a very interesting and picturesque object aswell!