Infrared-visual crossfade, Flame Nebula (Annotated)

As an illustration of the power of the VISTA telescope we start with a visible light view of the Flame Nebula created from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. We then slowly fade into the much more detailed infrared view taken with VISTA and see through most of the thick dust clouds to reveal the cluster of very hot and young stars at its heart. We then swing around and repeat the same steps on the Horsehead Nebula and the nearby reflection nebula NGC 2023.