Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula contains one of the brightest star clusters in the night sky. With a magnitude of 4, this nebula is easily visible from the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months. It is surprising, therefore, that this region was not documented until 1610 by a French lawyer named Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. On March 4, 1769, Charles Messier inducted the Orion Nebula, M42, into his list of stellar objects. Then, in 1771, Messier released his list of objects for its first publication in Memoires de l'Academie.1 The Orion Nebula is one of the closest stellar regions to the Earth. Using parallax measurements, it has been estimated that this nebula is only 1,500 light years away. In addition, the Orion Nebula is a relatively young star cluster, with an approximate age of less than one million years. It has even been speculated that some of the younger stars within the cluster are only 300,000 years old. The Orion Nebula is an emission nebula because of the O-type and B-type stars contained within it. These high-temperature stars emit ultraviolet (UV) light that ionizes the surrounding hydrogen atoms into protons (H+) and electrons (e-). When the protons and electrons recombine, the electrons enter a higher en
The suggestion that the Orion Nebula may eventually lead to planetary formation has become the basis for much discussion. More specifically, Doug Johnstone, an NSERC Post-Doctorate Fellow at the University of Toronto, developed an opposing perspective. At a meeting of the American Astronomical Society, on January 14, 1997, Johnstone suggested that "the disks around young cluster stars may not survive long enough for planets to form within them." 5 Furthermore, he concluded that certain favorable conditions must exist in order to promote planetary formation, and that the hostile environment of the Orion Nebula may actually inhibit the creation of planets. With the present limited knowledge of nebulae, no conclusive evidence exists to support either argument. 4Sky & Telescope. Protoplanetary Possibilities in the Trapezium. Volume 88, Number 4.
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