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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- At the Heart of Orion
NASA ^ | October 06, 2012 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 10/06/2012 1:07:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Explanation: Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the heart of the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium. Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius, they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster. Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars, mostly from the brightest star Theta 1 Orionis C powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow. About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was even more compact in its younger years and a recent dynamical study indicates that runaway stellar collisions at an earlier age may have formed a black hole with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun. The presence of a black hole within the cluster could explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars, The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1500 light-years would make it the closest known black hole to planet Earth.

October 06, 2012

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; falsecolor; orion; orionnebula; science; theta1orionisc; trapezium
[Credit: Image Data -- Hubble Legacy Archive, Processing -- Robert Gendler]

1 posted on 10/06/2012 1:07:48 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

2 posted on 10/06/2012 1:10:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

So are they saying a black hole 100 solar masses in size is still too small to see even at this close distance? Wouldn’t there be other evidence of a black hole beside the velocity of nearby stars?


3 posted on 10/06/2012 11:33:59 AM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: GATOR NAVY

Black holes can’t be seen at all.


4 posted on 10/06/2012 12:11:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

That’s why they’re “black”


5 posted on 10/06/2012 12:16:27 PM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Yes, but I recall reading that any associated accretion disc would be visible.


6 posted on 10/06/2012 4:49:57 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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