Seeing Orion's Nebula -- Over 1,350 Years Ago -- But Like It Is A Street-Lamp, Out Front... Next Gen 'Scope Marvels.

Well, even though it cost over $10 billion, and continues to fight a simple renaming ceremony, this next gen space 'scope is. . . clearly exceeding all expectations. We are awash. . . in data, night by. . . glorious night, now.

We may be almost equally likely now, to see trace signatures of bio-chemical activity -- from the new 'scope's data, some thousands of light-years off, in deep space -- as we are to see it right on our relative front porch, the surface of nearby Mars (as I said yesterday).

In any event, here is the latest, from Sky & Telecope:

. . .[The next-gen 'scope] zoomed in on the Orion Nebula this week, sharing with us a clearer picture of the giant stellar nursery.

Even at 1,350 light-years away, the nursery is visible to our unaided eyes as a pale smear beneath the three-starred belt of Orion. It has been the target of many an amateur astronomer / astrophotographer, as well as the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. But [the new 'scope] has provided the clearest and most unique picture to date, its Near-Infrared Camera peering through the dust that enshrouds the infant stars. . . .

The brightest star within the image is θ² Orionis A near the center. (If you're viewing it from the ground instead of with a powerful space telescope, then it's a binocular target — though you might see it unaided if you're under dark skies). . . .

Smiling. . . ever smiling, as I peer backward exactly one decade, tonight -- into the wonders of the evening skies of. . . then. Grin.

नमस्ते