Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2018 August 5 See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the
highest resolution version available. *Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion *
*Image Credit: * /Data: / Hubble Legacy Archive <http://hla.stsci.edu/>,
/Processing: / Robert Gendler <http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/>
*Explanation: * Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait , at the heart
of the Orion Nebula <https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090222.html>, are four hot,
massive stars 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. Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars , mostly from
the brightest star 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 recent dynamical study
indicates that runaway stellar collisions at an earlier age may have formed a
black hole with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun . The presence of a
black hole <https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141026.html> within the cluster could
explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars
<https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170321.html>. The Orion Nebula's distance of
some 1,500 light-years would make it the closest known black hole to planet
Earth. *APOD Event: * APOD Editor to speak at Fermilab on August 8 *Tomorrow's
picture: *cosmic streaks
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*Authors & editors: * Robert Nemiroff (MTU ) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP ) *NASA
Official: * Phillip Newman Specific rights apply . NASA Web Privacy Policy and
Important Notices *A service of:* ASD <https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/> at
NASA / GSFC <https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/> *&* Michigan Tech. U.
<http://www.mtu.edu/>

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 * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68)