Penetrating NGC 2024ΓÇÖs dust clouds, infrared radiation reveals a cluster of young stars, which have con- densed from the cloudΓÇÖs matter. This image was created by combining infrared observations at 1.2, 1.65, and 2.2 microns (a micron is one millionth of a meter). Astronomers have spent much time searching NGC 2024 for protostars, the dense clumps of gas that are a stage of star formation.
