Astronomy Picture of the Day 3-02-03

NASA ^ | 3-02-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2003 March 2

In the Center of the Trapezium
Credit: J. Bally, D. Devine, & R. Sutherland, D. Johnson (CITA), HST, NASA

Explanation: Start with the constellation of Orion. Near Orion's belt is a fuzzy area known as the Great Nebula of Orion or M42. In this nebula is a bright star cluster known as the Trapezium, shown above. New stellar systems are forming there in gigantic globs of gas and dust known as Proplyds. Looking closely at the above picture also reveals that gas and dust surrounding some of the dimmer stars appears to form structures that point away from the brighter stars. The above false color image was made by combining several exposures from the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

[petuniasevan]

Here are successively "zoomed-in" images of the Great Nebula (M42) which contains Theta Orionis, the Trapezium. The location is the pinkish fuzzy middle "star" in Orion's sword. The Trapezium is easily visible in any size 'scope with decent optical quality. Enjoy!

There's more to the Trapezium than meets the eye...Infrared images show numerous faint stars and brown dwarfs.

[petuniasevan]

[firewalk]

really pretty, thanks for the ping

[xJones]

BUMP!

[MeekOneGOP]

Mother Nature showing off her stuff. Great pics, thanks ...

[WSGilcrest]

Checking in from my uncle's house in Silver Springs, NV. (About a 1/2hr. east of Carson City) I went for a walk after dinner last night and it was absolutely beautiful! Perfectly clear skies and no moon. I had forgotten what stars look like!! I incourage everyone to get out away from the city lights and look UP every once in a while.

~Stu

[NerdDad]

Clarinet_King (that's my boy) tells me he made today's APOD the background on his PC. Those of us who have them can tell you what an accomplishment it is when you've managed to impress a teenager. You can take the rest of the day off and sleep with a sense of true accomplishment. ;)

[NewCenturions]

Absolutely gorgeous - every one of the images! You've outdone yourself today!

[MozartLover]

Spectacular!

The first one spooked me; I swear I see a face...........two eyes (one half-closed) and a nose..........

[RightWhale]

I had forgotten what stars look like!!

Many communities are putting light-pollution enforcement into their zoning code. The town here is one of the worst for light pollution: you can read a newspaper anywhere outdoors at midnight in January. Nevertheless, it isn't necessary to light up the night sky while providing light where it is needed. A little light fixture shielding goes a long way.

[NerdDad]

Look again. My wife saw it immediately and pointed it out to me. It looks like an eagle perched and looking straight at you.

[MozartLover]

On the left or on the right?

I see a BIG face on the left, and something that looks eagle-ish on the right.

Love your screen name, BTW.:)

[petuniasevan]

Thanks to you and your son Clarinet_King.

It's the positive responses I get that give me the encouragement/inspiration to post this thread each and every day.

Thanks to all who visit and especially those who post.

[NerdDad]

OK. First let's establish that NerdDad is no artist. Second, I have never tried posting a photo here before. Guess there is a first for everything. I've taken the APOD and butchered it with my lack of artistic ability by trying to outline the two images within the image. My wife and son tell me there is another on the left side but I just don't see it. I see one bird looking head on to the upper right center of the picture. A second is a profile of a head near the bottom right
The link to my poor display of artistry that hopefully will show the outline of these two images is located at
http://www.camelthread.com/images/orionprop_hst.jpg

[MozartLover]

Ah. Yes. Now I see both of them clearly.

I still see, also, on the left side of the picture, a huge face with one open eye, one closed eye, and a big poofy nose.:)

[Soaring Feather]

Astounding! Beautiful!