Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                               2024 January 5
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                      Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion
         Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Fred Zimmer, Telescope Live

   Explanation: Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the
   heart of [5]the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars [6]known as
   the Trapezium. Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in
   radius, they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
   [7]Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the [8]Trapezium stars, mostly
   from the brightest star [9]Theta-1 Orionis C powers the complex star
   forming region's entire visible glow. About three million years old,
   the Orion Nebula Cluster was even more compact in its younger years and
   a [10]dynamical study indicates that [11]runaway stellar collisions at
   an earlier age may have formed a [12]black hole with more than 100
   times the mass of the Sun. The presence of a [13]black hole within the
   cluster could explain the observed high velocities of the [14]Trapezium
   stars. The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1,500 light-years would make
   it one of the [15]closest known black holes to planet Earth.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
     __________________________________________________________________

      [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search |
   [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss |
                                    [26]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply.
              [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC,
                         [36]NASA Science Activation
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/Image964.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://telescope.live/user/24785
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090222.html
   6. http://messier.seds.org/more/m042_trapezium.html
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezium_Cluster
   9. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/theta1ori.html
  10. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012ApJ...757...37S
  11. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/a-black-hole-in-orion/
  12. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/black-holes/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141026.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170321.html
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_black_holes
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240104.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240105
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240106.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/