APOD: Dust, Gas, and Stars in the Orion Nebula (2017 Mar 08)

[APOD Robot]

Dust, Gas, and Stars in the Orion Nebula

Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby starbirth region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Here, filaments of dark dust and glowing gas surround hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the featured deep image shown in assigned colors, part of the nebula's center is shown as taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye near the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion. In addition to housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars, proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known as M42 and M43, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

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[Ann]

Click to view full size image

M42 and M43. Photo: Sid Leach.

There has been a mistake in the caption of today's APOD. The caption describes today's APOD as if it showed us M42, the great Orion Nebula. But what we are really seeing is M43.

By the way, nice picture. When I saw it I thought, how nice to see M43 instead of M42 highlighted for a change!

Ann

[Boomer12k]

Thought it was Jupiter for a moment at first glance... swirls of colors... but then....

Very awesome close shot of probably my favorite place...

Click on photo for LARGE image.... WAY COOOL... however, seems too big to Zoom in on... it goes black and does not seem to load...wait for it to stop...save it to your computer, look at it in a photo APP...

:---[===] *

[inertnet]

On the subject of Orion's arm in our galaxy, some of you might like this site:http://www.orionsarm.com/

[BDanielMayfield]

Click to view full size image

M42 and M43. Photo: Sid Leach.

There has been a mistake in the caption of today's APOD. The caption describes today's APOD as if it showed us M42, the great Orion Nebula. But what we are really seeing is M43.

By the way, nice picture. When I saw it I thought, how nice to see M43 instead of M42 highlighted for a change!

Ann

Thanks for pointing this out Ann. I got that Lost in Space feeling for a while when comparing today's Apod with the Explanation. Couldn't find the Trapezium ... whoa, where are we? Danger, danger Will Robinson!

I hope this lovely image of M43 is retained and the Explanation is replaced, instead of just plugging in another M42 shot.

Bruce

[Ann]

I hope this lovely image of M43 is retained and the Explanation is replaced, instead of just plugging in another M42 shot.

Bruce

I hope so too! So I thought I'd fill in a few details about M43 myself. I found a fine site which has a lot to say about this appendix to the Great Orion Nebula:

(Do) you see how there’s a dark dust lane dividing the great nebula into two parts, one of which is about ten times larger than the other? That smaller part is what Messier 43, or De Mairan’s nebula, actually is!
...
The brightest star in there is a young, hot and ultra-massive blue star, most probably destined to go supernova in only a few million years.
...
A closer inspection reveals that there are actually a great many young stars that have formed inside...
...
Furthermore, what’s incredibly interesting is that the bright, central star would have passed within just 109 light-years of us some 9 million years ago based on its current orbit, making it one of the brightest stars in our sky. But it probably didn’t exist that long ago, having formed much more recently than that!

Whereas the full, main Orion Nebula has many stars illuminating it, there’s only one primary star giving rise to this one, hence it’s often known as either the little, small or miniature Orion Nebula.

I believe that the central star of M43 is Nu Orionis or HD 37061, a star of spectral class O9V.

Ann

[neufer]

---

<<Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan (26 November 1678 – 20 February 1771) was a French geophysicist, astronomer and most notably, chronobiologist, was born in the town of Béziers on 26 November 1678.

In 1719, De Mairan discussed the varying obliquity of light that causes cold in winter and heat in summer. He postulated that the sun's heating effect was related to the square of the sine of its elevation. He neglected the effects of atmosphere, admitting that he did not know how much the sun's heat would be absorbed by it. Two and a half years later, he presented a paper to the Academie Royale des Sciences in Paris: "Problem: the ratio of two degrees or quantities of sunlight seen through the atmosphere at two different known angular elevations being given, to find what part of the absolute light of the sun is intercepted by the atmosphere at any desired elevation." In this paper, de Mairan made a hypothesis based on mere observations, supposing that the ratio had been measured, even though it had not. The significance of de Mairan's work, although incorrect, led his protégé, Pierre Bouguer, to invent the photometer.

In 1729, de Mairan constructed an experiment showing the existence of a circadian rhythm in plants.

In 1731, he also observed "De Mairan's Nebula" around a star near the Orion nebula.
This was later designated M43 by Charles Messier.>>

[Chris Peterson]

There has been a mistake in the caption of today's APOD. The caption describes today's APOD as if it showed us M42, the great Orion Nebula. But what we are really seeing is M43.

Well, to be fair, what is usually called "The Great Nebula in Orion" or just "The Orion Nebula" conventionally includes both M42 and M43. So it's a bit confusing when we see just a small area that is difficult to place in context.

[Ann]

There has been a mistake in the caption of today's APOD. The caption describes today's APOD as if it showed us M42, the great Orion Nebula. But what we are really seeing is M43.

Well, to be fair, what is usually called "The Great Nebula in Orion" or just "The Orion Nebula" conventionally includes both M42 and M43. So it's a bit confusing when we see just a small area that is difficult to place in context.

The caption does mention M42, but not M43. That is not okay for this image.

Ann

[BDanielMayfield]

I believe that the central star of M43 is Nu Orionis or HD 37061, a star of spectral class O9V.

Ann

Now look at who's Lost. Nu Orionis is in the northern part of Orion.

[Chris Peterson]

There has been a mistake in the caption of today's APOD. The caption describes today's APOD as if it showed us M42, the great Orion Nebula. But what we are really seeing is M43.

Well, to be fair, what is usually called "The Great Nebula in Orion" or just "The Orion Nebula" conventionally includes both M42 and M43. So it's a bit confusing when we see just a small area that is difficult to place in context.

The caption does mention M42, but not M43. That is not okay for this image.

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Just pointing out that common names for some astronomical objects sometimes don't overlap neatly with various catalog designations.

[Visual_Astronomer]

Good catch, Ann!

I was trying to figure out what I was seeing here - thought it was so zoomed in I couldn't get my bearings...

[RJN]

The caption describes today's APOD as if it showed us M42, the great Orion Nebula. But what we are really seeing is M43.

Thanks, Ann! Good point. I have now updated the main NASA APOD caption.
- RJN

[Ann]

I believe that the central star of M43 is Nu Orionis or HD 37061, a star of spectral class O9V.

Ann

Now look at who's Lost. Nu Orionis is in the northern part of Orion.

Oh, sorry! You're right! I meant NU Orionis, not Nu Orionis!

Ann

[neufer]

I believe that the central star of M43 is Nu Orionis or HD 37061, a star of spectral class O9V.

Now look at who's Lost. Nu Orionis is in the northern part of Orion.

Oh, sorry! You're right! I meant NU Orionis, not Nu Orionis!

• Nu titta på vem som hittas

[Ann]

Now look at who's Lost. Nu Orionis is in the northern part of Orion.

Oh, sorry! You're right! I meant NU Orionis, not Nu Orionis!

• Nu titta på vem som hittas

Good, Art! Except in Swedish, the compulsory word order would be, "Titta nu på vem som hittas"!

Ann

[Ann]

Gunnar "Nu" Hansen.
Source: http://samlingen.koes.dk/en/works-inpublic-sphere/864

Gunnar "Nu" Hansen was a Danish sports commentator. He was so popular that he has his own bust and his own street or square in Copenhagen, Gunnar Nu Hansens Plads.

Gunnar Nu Hansen got his nickname in 1936, when he worked as a radio reporter and sports commentator for Denmark's Radio during the Olympic games in Berlin. He kept telling the radio listeners that things got tense and thrilling "now", and he kept saying "Nu, nu, nu" (Now, now, now) when a Danish swimmer had reached the finals of a swimming event and was going for a medal.

Ann

[Ann]

A: What's the meaning of life, the universe, everything and the APOD?

B: Mmm...42?

A: Mmmm...43!!!

(My third post in a row. Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Ann

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

God: "I could explain the meaning of life... but then it wouldn't be funny"

---

• Gunnar 'Nu' Hansen

[Golganfrinchan]

A: What's the meaning of life, the universe, everything and the APOD?

B: Mmm...42?

A: Mmmm...43!!!

(My third post in a row. Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Ann

Tricky!

[BobStein-VisiBone]

Huh, I do believe that's a mirror image.

[Chris Peterson]

Huh, I do believe that's a mirror image.

Yes, it's mirrored vertically- north down, east left. Somewhat unfortunate, given that there was no good reason to break convention here, but it is what it is.

[BobStein-VisiBone]

Huh, I do believe that's a mirror image.

Yes, it's mirrored vertically- north down, east left. Somewhat unfortunate, given that there was no good reason to break convention here, but it is what it is.

Thought you might have hopped 'round to the other side.