News tagged with orion nebula
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 ...
Jul 13, 2010 |
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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.
Mar 21, 2010 |
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Turbulence May Promote the Birth of Massive Stars
(PhysOrg.com) -- On long, dark winter nights, the constellation of Orion the Hunter dominates the sky. Within the Hunter's sword, the Orion Nebula swaddles a cluster of newborn stars called the Trapezium. These stars are ...
Feb 23, 2009 |
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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 ...
May 31, 2012 |
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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 ...
Mar 15, 2012 |
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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. ...
Feb 29, 2012 |
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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 ...
Dec 20, 2011 |
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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 ...
Jun 30, 2011 |
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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 ...
Jun 14, 2011 |
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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 ...
Feb 04, 2011 |
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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 ...
Jan 19, 2011 |
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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 ...
Jun 04, 2010 |
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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 ...
Apr 01, 2010 |
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Experience Hubble's Universe in 3-D (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Take an exhilarating ride through the Orion Nebula, a vast star-making factory 1,500 light-years away. Swoop through Orion's giant canyon of gas and dust. Fly past behemoth stars whose brilliant ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 19, 2010 |
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Herschel Finds Possible Life-Enabling Molecules in Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed the chemical fingerprints of potentially life-enabling organic molecules in the Orion nebula, a nearby stellar nursery in our Milky Way galaxy.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 04, 2010 |
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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.
