VISION II. VISTA Orion A survey

Moreover, we find statistically significant evidence that the extinction law from ~1{mu}m to at least ~6{mu}m varies across the cloud. In particular, we find a gradient along galactic longitude, where regions near the Orion Nebula Cluster show a different extinction law compared to L1641 and L1647, the low-mass star-forming sites in the cloud complex. These variations are of the order of only 3% and are most likely caused by the influence of the massive stars on their surrounding medium.

While the observed general trends in our measurements are in agreement with model predictions, both well-established and new dust grain models are not able to fully reproduce our infrared extinction curve. We also present a new extinction map featuring a resolution of 1' and revisit the correlation between extinction and dust optical depth. This analysis shows that cloud substructure, which is not sampled by background sources, affects the conversion factor between these two measures.

In conclusion, we argue that specific characteristics of the infrared extinction law are still not well understood, but Orion A can serve as an unbiased template for future studies.