Hubble Hypersonic Shock Wave Orion Nebula
Photo credit: C.R. O’Dell (Rice University), and NASA
NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope captures a hypersonic shock wave within the Orion Nebula, a star-forming hot spot about 1,344 light-years away from Earth. At its heart is a bow shock—a glowing, crescent-shaped arc of gas—carved out by a young star blasting material at hypersonic speeds.


Hubble Hypersonic Shock Wave Orion Nebula
Just how fast is a hypersonic shock wave? Around 148,000 miles per hour, and mainly driven by a newborn star’s “stellar wind”, which is a stream of charged particles slamming into the nebula’s slower-moving gas. What you end up with is a shock wave that lights up in neon greens, purples, and oranges, while wispy trails stretch out like cosmic brushstrokes. Put simply, it’s a snapshot of raw energy, with the star’s outflow bulldozing through the nebula’s dense molecular clouds.

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Hubble Hypersonic Shock Wave Orion Nebula

Most of the image’s left side glows with blue gas, with a ridge of reddish gas at center. A yellow shock wave extends out to the right, shining against black space,” said the NASA Hubble Mission Team.