NSF VLA Maps a Hidden Hydrogen Shell Around the Orion Nebula

A team of astronomers led by Juan D. Soler of the University of Vienna used the NSF VLA, operated by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatories (NSF NRAO), to obtain high-resolution observations of the emission from neutral hydrogen atoms (HI) at 21 centimeters wavelength

Featured Video: Why Hydrogen Tells Us the Story of the Universe

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Radio astronomers can see hydrogen by the light it emits, reflects, and even absorbs. Because hydrogen is everywhere, it can tell stories about the cosmos from the Big Bang to today.

Join our host Summer Ash of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as she talks about how hydrogen can tell us so much about the structure and evolution of the universe.