Image 7-22
Stars in Orion's Head

This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows infant stars forming in the head of the hunter constellation, Orion. Astronomers suspect that shockwaves from a supernova explosion, nearly three million years ago, may have initiated this newfound birth. The region featured in this Spitzer image is called Barnard 30. It is located approximately 1,300 light-years from Earth and sits on the right side of Orion's head, just north of the massive star Lambda Orionis. Wisps of red in the cloud are organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.