Thursday, December 31, 2009

Born in Beauty: Proplyds in the Orion Nebula

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214121453.htm

The Orion Nebula is my favorite place to look when using my telescope. This article shows 30 new planets forming in the Orion Nebula that have never been published before courtesy of the Hubble Telescope. Proplyds or protoplanetary discs currently blobs surrounding baby stars. The Orion Nebula is 1500 light years away and is known as the closest star forming region to earth. With all of the dust clouds and surrounding gases, the area is outstanding with beautiful colors and formations. There are also emerging jets of matter and shock waves, which are formed "when the stellar wind from the nearby massive star collides with the gas in the nebula." These shapes are fantastic including boomerangs and space jellyfish. It is well worth a visit to this site to see the Hubble photographs of these discs.

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