THE RADIO-CONTINUUM MORPHOLOGY OF THE ORION NEBULA, FROM 10' TO 0.1'' RESOLUTION

A complete set of newly measured radio continuum maps of the Orion Nebula at 20 and 2 cm is presented. The largest field covers a region of 2-degrees x 2-degrees with a resolution of 10', the smallest covers 3' x 3' field, centered on the peak, with a resolution of 0.1''. The lower resolution maps emphasize the extended emission of the diffuse ionized gas. As the resolution increases, the maps sample regions of higher emission measure. A detailed comparison with Halpha images shows a very good match on all scale sizes. As the resolution becomes finer than 1'' a completely new aspect of the radio emission appears: a new class of weak, small diameter sources of high surface brightness are found. Many of these features are associated with stars. Finally, a morphological comparison of the radio continuum emission with similar-scale maps of molecular and atomic emission is presented.