News tagged with orion nebula

Cosmic calculations: Advance will help astrophysicists explore where stars are born

A University of Delaware-led research team reports an advance in the June 1 issue of Science that may help astrophysicists more accurately analyze the vast molecular clouds of gas and dust where stars are bo ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 31, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

1000 days of infrared wonders

(Phys.org) -- For the last 1000 days the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), aboard NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, has been operating continuously to probe the universe from its most distant regions to our local ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Stars made from galactic recycling material

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ordinary galaxies such as our own Milky Way contain a plethora of gas and dust. Nevertheless, there is not nearly enough matter to explain how galaxies produce new stars at the observed rates ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Young stars flicker amidst clouds of gas and dust

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have spotted young stars in the Orion nebula changing right before their eyes, thanks to the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

SOFIA peers in to the heart of the Orion nebula

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new image from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) shows a complex distribution of interstellar dust and stars in the Orion nebula. Interstellar dust, composed ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hubble movies reveal solarsystemsized traffic jams

(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to big-budget action movies, Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan prefers Hubble to Hollywood.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Making a spectacle of star formation in Orion

(PhysOrg.com) -- Looking like a pair of eyeglasses only a rock star would wear, this nebula brings into focus a murky region of star formation. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope exposes the depths of this dusty ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jun 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Measuring the clumpiness of proto-planetary disks

(PhysOrg.com) -- The process of star formation, once thought to involve just the simple coalescence of material under the influence of gravity, actually entails a complex series of stages, with the youngest ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jun 14, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Water vapor in space

(PhysOrg.com) -- Water is a critical molecule for human life, and, because it is abundant in the interstellar medium, it also plays an important role in the life of molecular clouds and the stars and planets ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 04, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The Orion nebula: Still full of surprises

(PhysOrg.com) -- This ethereal-looking image of the Orion Nebula was captured using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. This nebula is much more than ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 19, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New Herbig-Haro jets in Orion

(PhysOrg.com) -- A research team using the Subaru Prime Focus Camera (Suprime-Cam) has obtained some of the deepest and highest resolution images ever taken of the large star-forming molecular cloud Lynds ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Aug 20, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Hubble snaps sharp image of cosmic concoction (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A colourful star-forming region is featured in this stunning new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 2467. Looking like a roiling cauldron of some exotic cosmic brew, huge clouds ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 13, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (19) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Bok Globules

(PhysOrg.com) -- Bok globules are small interstellar clouds of very cold gas and dust that are so thick they are nearly totally opaque to visible light, although they can be studied with infrared and radio ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jun 04, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Colony of Young Stars Shines in New Spitzer Image

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have their eyes on a hot group of young stars, watching their every move like the paparazzi. A new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the bustling star-making ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 01, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Early galaxy went through 'teenage growth spurt,' scientists say (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found a massive galaxy in the early Universe creating stars like our sun up to 100 times faster than the modern-day Milky Way.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 21, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south[b] of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344±20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. Older texts frequently referred to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula. Yet older, astrological texts refer to it as Ensis (Latin for "sword"), which was also the name given to the star Eta Orionis, which can be seen close to the nebula from Earth.

The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky, and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula. There are also supersonic "bullets" of gas piercing the dense hydrogen clouds of the Orion Nebula. Each bullet is ten times the diameter of Pluto's orbit and tipped with iron atoms glowing bright blue. They were probably formed one thousand years ago from an unknown violent event.

For more information about Orion Nebula, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: spitzer space telescope