Image of the Day: A Stunning View of an Ancient,
Violent Event -The Orion Nebula

post from The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel on 05 November 2009 03:14:00 AM. © The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel

This stunning, new NASA image of the Orion Nebula highlights the region of massive star formation closest to Earth. Formally known as the M42 nebula, it is estimated to be 24 light years across, the nebula is a living lab of protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and turbulent motions of gas, and photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars. There are also supersonic "bullets" of gas piercing the dense hydrogen clouds believed to have been formed one thousand years ago from an unknown violent event -each are ten times the diameter of Pluto's orbit and tipped with iron atoms glowing bright blue.