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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- At the Heart of Orion
NASA ^
| January 02, 2015
| (see photo credit)
Posted on 01/02/2015 2:10:37 AM PST 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. Tightly 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 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 1,500 light-years would make it the closest known black hole to planet Earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; nebula; orion; orionnebula; science; theta1orionisc; trapezium
[Credit and Copyright: László Francsics]
1
posted on
01/02/2015 2:10:37 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; dayglored; ...
2
posted on
01/02/2015 2:10:58 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: SunkenCiv
Might just be my favorite nebula...but there are so many.
3
posted on
01/02/2015 3:55:29 AM PST
by
9thLife
(Barack Hussein Obama is one of *them*.)
To: SunkenCiv
Beautiful!
Happy New Year, Sunky!
4
posted on
01/02/2015 5:58:35 AM PST
by
left that other site
(You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
To: SunkenCiv
The Trapezium stars must have been where Roy Batty saw those attack ships on fire.
5
posted on
01/02/2015 6:20:49 AM PST
by
IronJack
To: IronJack
6
posted on
01/02/2015 7:57:53 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: 9thLife
So many nebulas, so much time! ;’)
7
posted on
01/02/2015 8:04:01 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: left that other site
Thanks, and HNY to you and yours, too!
8
posted on
01/02/2015 8:04:20 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: SunkenCiv
These kind of APODs are my favorite! ;-)
9
posted on
01/02/2015 8:05:04 AM PST
by
left that other site
(You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
To: SunkenCiv
Is this the galaxy on Orion’s Belt?
10
posted on
01/02/2015 9:20:23 AM PST
by
VanShuyten
("a shadow...draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence.")
To: VanShuyten
“Just these three stars. You heard wrong.”
11
posted on
01/02/2015 10:06:30 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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