Messier 42 - The Core

[PhotonCollector (Paul)]

Hello everyone,

From the image I recently produced of the Great Nebula in Orion (M42 see thread http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ead.php?t=6076), I have also created some other images from the photons I collected that night, here is the first of them.

This image highlights the central region of the nebula Messier 42 - the locality of the Trapezium stars. The four Trapezium stars can be seen at centre image - they appear to merge together into a white clump, however in reality, the stars are separated from each other by up-to several light-years distance. Bright knots and wisps of nebulae appear to surround the Trapezium stars in an almost spherical appearance which is evidence of stellar-winds, produced by the relatively newborn Trapezium stars, blowing the nebula away from them.

The dark nebula at bottom-image appears to be in the foreground and is so opaque, that no light from stars or the nebula in the background, can be seen through it. In fact when you look at this region through a telescope it appears darker than the sky background.

For those with keen eyes; to the right of the Trapezium stars is a single bright star that exhibits spikes in this photograph. Follow the spike that points to the top-right of this image and just above the star you will notice a pinkish globule of nebula. This small pinkish globule is in-fact the leading edge of a gas plume ejected from a new-born star.

Also see this image at
http://www.skylab.com.au/pmsa/ngc1976d.html

Regards
Paul Mayo

[h0ughy (David)]

nice one Paul

[davidpretorius]

gee you know your stuff. well done!

[atalas]

Very cool stuff Paul !

[ving (David)]

very cool mister paul!

[xelasnave]

Any planets in there?
Good shooting Paul
alex

[tornado33]

Great shot Paul, I love the mottling, actual detail in the nebulosity around the Trapezium, gee that hydrogen must be getting baked by the UV rays from the nearby hot stars.

[PhotonCollector (Paul)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Any planets in there?
Good shooting Paul
alex

Hi xelasnave,

Yeah I'm sure there are!

After all I think the purpose of the universe is to create life. And it does that by building as many planetary systems as possible, so I'm sure there are planets in there - even though we would of course never see them.

Paul