by APOD Robot » Tue Dec 22, 2009 4:56 am
Planetary Systems Now Forming in Orion
Explanation: How do planets form? To help find out, the
Hubble Space Telescope was tasked to take a detailed look at one of the more interesting of all astronomical nebulae, the
Great Nebula in Orion. The
Orion nebula, visible with the
unaided eye near the
belt in the
constellation of Orion, is an immense nearby
starbirth region and probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Insets to the
above mosaic show
numerous proplyds, many of which are stellar nurseries likely harboring
planetary systems in formation. Some proplyds glow as close disks surrounding bright stars light up, while other
proplyds contain disks further from their host star, contain cooler
dust, and hence appear as dark
silhouettes against brighter gas. Studying this dust, in particular, is giving insight for how planets are forming. Many proplyd images also show
arcs that are
shock waves - fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas. The
Orion Nebula lies about 1,500
light years distant and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as
our Sun.
[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091222.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_091222.jpg[/img] [size=150]Planetary Systems Now Forming in Orion[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] How do planets form? To help find out, the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090525.html]Hubble Space Telescope[/url] was tasked to take a detailed look at one of the more interesting of all astronomical nebulae, the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081023.html]Great Nebula in Orion[/url]. The [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090222.html]Orion nebula[/url], visible with the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrggYX8H_o]unaided eye[/url] near the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090210.html]belt[/url] in the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)]constellation of Orion[/url], is an immense nearby [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/stellar_nurseries.html]starbirth region[/url] and probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Insets to the [url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0917ab.html]above mosaic[/url] show [url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0917.html]numerous proplyds[/url], many of which are stellar nurseries likely harboring [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080218.html]planetary systems[/url] in formation. Some proplyds glow as close disks surrounding bright stars light up, while other [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proplyd]proplyd[/url]s contain disks further from their host star, contain cooler [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010813.html]dust[/url], and hence appear as dark [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090516.html]silhouettes[/url] against brighter gas. Studying this dust, in particular, is giving insight for how planets are forming. Many proplyd images also show [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031115.html]arcs[/url] that are [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zu5SGllmwc]shock waves[/url] - fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas. The [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula]Orion Nebula[/url] lies about 1,500 [url=http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html]light years[/url] distant and is located in the same [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080711.html]spiral arm[/url] of [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080713.html]our Galaxy[/url] as [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090315.html]our Sun[/url].
[b][float=left][url=http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=091221]<< Previous APOD[/url][/float] [float=right][url=http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=091223]Next APOD >>[/url][/float][/b]