The Flame Nebula in Orion | Webb Telescope & Chandra X-ray Observatory

The Flame Nebula in Orion | Webb Telescope & Chandra X-ray Observatory

The Flame Nebula image features Chandra’s X-rays (purple) embedded within a dusty-grey landscape seen in infrared by James Webb. Several dozen young stars illuminate the gas cloud, appearing as white cores surrounded by thick, neon purple-pink X-ray halos. This image captures the "stellar soil" of a region where stars are currently forming and beginning their life cycles.

The Flame Nebula lies in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex and is home to cosmic objects, called brown dwarfs, that are not quite planets, but are also so small their cores cannot sustain fusing hydrogen like full-fledged stars do.

Distance from Earth: 1350 light years

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/K. Getman, E. Feigelson, M. Kuhn & the MYStIX team; JWST Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Meyer (University of Michigan), M. De Furio (UT Austin), M. Robberto (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI)

Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: May 15, 2026

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