The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This image is a section of a larger NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope mosaic of the entire Orion Nebula, released in 2006. At the centre of the nebula lies a group of four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium Cluster. In this image, the cluster lies just out of view, off the top-left corner, illuminating the gas visible here. The two large stars in the image are part of another cluster, named θ² Orionis. A number of proplyds are visible among the clouds of the nebula.
This Hubble image has been cropped and aligned so that it matches the same area as viewed by Webb with NIRCam.
[Image description: A cloudy nebula with two large, bright stars in the bottom-right. The material to the top-left is dull in colour, thick and smoky. A wall of brighter purple material crosses the view in the bottom-right. Beyond this bar, the material is wispier and more sparse.]