The ejected gas has been ionized until it is illuminated by radiation from a nearby star, Orion 42. This makes it particularly useful for researchers because its outflow is still visible under the ionizing radiation of nearby stars. Normally, jets like this are only seen when they collide with the surrounding material. The chicken produces a bright shock wave and disappears when it cools down.
In this picture, red and orange represent jets and related impinging glowing gas. On the right side of the image, the glowing blue ripples that seem to flow away from the jet are bow-shaped oscillations facing Orion 42 (not shown in the picture). The bow oscillation occurs in space. When the gas stream collides, it is named after the crescent-shaped wave generated by the ship traveling in the water.
The bright west leaves of the jet are surrounded by a series of orange arcs. As the distance from the star increases, the size of the arc decreases and forms a cone or spindle shape. These arcs may be the ionized outer edge of the debris disk surrounding the star, the radius of which is 500 times the distance between the sun and the earth, and a fairly large (170 AU) hole in the center of the disk. The spindle-like shape may be a trace of material flowing out of the disk, and it is estimated that the mass lost every year is about 100 million suns.
NGC 1977 is part of the three reflection nebulae that make up the Running Man Nebula in Orion.