Flame Nebula

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title: "Flame Nebula" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["orion-molecular-cloud-complex", "ngc-objects", "orion-(constellation)", "emission-nebulae", "sharpless-objects", "gould-belt", "star-forming-regions"] description: "Emission nebula in the constellation Orion" topic_path: "general/orion-molecular-cloud-complex" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_Nebula" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Emission nebula in the constellation Orion ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox nebula"]

Field	Value
name	NGC 2024
image	Flame-Nebula.jpg
caption	The Flame Nebula in visible light (broadband). The star above it is Alnitak. The nebulae to the upper left are IC 431 and IC 432.
type	emission
epoch	J2000.0
ra
dec
dist_ly	1350
dist_pc	415
appmag_v	10
size_v	30'x30'
constellation	Orion
radius_ly	6
names	NGC 2024 and Sharpless 277
::

::callout[type=note] the nebula in Orion ::

| name = NGC 2024 | image = Flame-Nebula.jpg | caption = The Flame Nebula in visible light (broadband). The star above it is Alnitak. The nebulae to the upper left are IC 431 and IC 432. | type = emission | epoch = J2000.0 | ra = | dec = | dist_ly = 1350 | dist_pc = 415 | appmag_v = 10 | size_v = 30'x30' | constellation = Orion | radius_ly = 6 | absmag_v = | notes = | names = NGC 2024 and Sharpless 277 NOTOC The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion. It is about 1350 light-years away. At that distance, the Flame Nebula lies within the Orion B cloud of the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.

The bright star Alnitak (ζ Ori), the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion, appears very close to the Flame Nebula in the sky. But the star and nebula are not physically associated with one another. The Flame Nebula contains a young cluster of stars which includes at least one hot, luminous O-type star labeled IRS 2b. The dense gas and dust in the foreground of the nebula heavily obscures the star cluster inside the nebula, making studies at infrared wavelengths most useful.

The energetic ultraviolet light emitted by the central O-type star IRS 2b into the Flame Nebula causes the gas to be excited and heated. The glow of the nebula results from the energy input from this central star. Within the nebula and surrounding the central hot star is a cluster of young, lower-mass stars, 86% of which have circumstellar disks. 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 young stars are concentrated near the center of the cluster.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Flame_Nebula_proplyds.jpg" caption="The center of the Flame Nebula seen by JWST [[NIRCam]], revealing proplyds in new detail and revealing two new candidates."] ::

The Flame Nebula was observed with ALMA and this study found two populations, which are separated by a molecular cloud. The eastern population is 0.2-0.5 Myr old and has a disk fraction of 45±7%. The western population is slightly older at 1 Myr and has a lower disk fraction of 15±4%. This disk fraction is lower than the one observed in the mid-infrared, but the ALMA survey also observed a smaller region. The eastern part contains the O8 star IRS 2b and the western part contains the B0.5V star IRS 1. Hubble observations have shown that the Flame Nebula contains 4 clear proplyds and 4 candidate proplyds. Three of these are in the older western region and are pointing towards IRS 1. The other 5 are in the younger eastern region and are pointing towards IRS 2b.

Gallery

Image:Flame Nebula NGC 2024.jpg|Optical image in B, V and R filters, from La Silla Observatory Image:Ngc2024 2mass.jpg|Infrared image, from 2MASS Image:The hidden fires of the Flame Nebula.jpg|Near-infrared image, from VISTA Image:Spectacular visible light wide-field view of region of Orion's Belt and the Flame Nebula.jpg|Visible light wide-field view of region of Orion's Belt and the Flame Nebula Image:NGC 2024 seen by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.jpg|NGC 2024 seen by the Chandra X-ray Observatory Image:The Flame Nebula.jpg|Flame Nebula and Horsehead Nebula Image:Horsehead and Flame Nebula.jpg|Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in H-alpha Image:NASA-FlameNebula-NGC2024-20140507.jpg|The Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) - based on Chandra X-Ray and Spitzer Infrared images

References

References

1. Meyer, M. R.. (2008). "Handbook of Star Forming Regions, Volume II: The Southern Sky ASP Monograph Publications". Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
2. Bik, A.. (2003). "Identification of the ionizing source of NGC 2024". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
3. (2003). "A Deep Chandra X-Ray Observation of the Embedded Young Cluster in NGC 2024". Astrophysical Journal.
4. (2015). "The Spatial Structure of Young Stellar Clusters. II. Total Young Stellar Populations". Astrophysical Journal.
5. (2014). "Core-Halo Age Gradients and Star Formation in the Orion Nebula and NGC 2024 Young Stellar Clusters". Astrophysical Journal.
6. (2000). "A Near-Infrared L-Band Survey of the Young Embedded Cluster NGC 2024". Astronomical Journal.
7. Haisch, K. E. Jr.. (2001). "A Mid-Infrared Study of the Young Stellar Population in the NGC 2024 Cluster". Astronomical Journal.
8. Broos, P. S.. (2013). "Identifying Young Stars in Massive Star-forming Regions for the MYStIX Project". Astrophysical Journal.
9. (10 May 2014). "Inside the Flame Nebula".
10. (March 2021). "Proplyds in the flame nebula NGC 2024". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
11. (2020-08-01). "Protoplanetary disk masses in NGC 2024: Evidence for two populations". Astronomy and Astrophysics.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::