At the Heart of Orion

László Francsics

Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the heart of the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium. Tightly 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 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 within the cluster could explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars. The Orion Nebula’s distance of some 1,500 light-years would make it the closest known black hole to planet Earth.

The Lagoon Nebula. Detail (4)

A slice cut from the vast image of the Lagoon Nebula published by ESO as part of VPHAS+, one of three imaging surveys using the VISTA survey telescope.

ESO/VPHAS+ team

The Lagoon Nebula. Detail (3)

A slice cut from the vast image of the Lagoon Nebula published by ESO as part of VPHAS+, one of three imaging surveys using the VISTA survey telescope. 

ESO/VPHAS+ team

The Lagoon Nebula. Detail (2)

A slice cut from the vast image of the Lagoon Nebula published by ESO as part of VPHAS+, one of three imaging surveys using the VISTA survey telescope. 

 ESO/VPHAS+ team

The Lagoon Nebula. Detail (1)

A slice cut from the vast image of the Lagoon Nebula published by ESO as part of VPHAS+, one of three imaging surveys using the VISTA survey telescope. 

ESO/VPHAS+ team

Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile has captured this richly detailed new image of the Lagoon Nebula. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters.  

ESO/VPHAS+ team

Wide-field view of the sky around the Medusa Nebula

This is a part of a wide-field view that shows the sky around the large but faint planetary nebula known as the Medusa Nebula. This picture was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. 

ESO

This beautiful planetary nebula is named after a dreadful creature from Greek mythology — the Gorgon Medusa. It is also known as Sharpless 2-274 and is located in the constellation of Gemini (The Twins). The Medusa Nebula spans approximately four light-years and lies at a distance of about 1500 light-years. Despite its size it is extremely dim and hard to observe.

The Medusa Nebula

ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile has captured the most detailed image ever taken of the Medusa Nebula (also known Abell 21 and Sharpless 2-274). As the star at the heart of this nebula made its final transition into retirement, it shed its outer layers into space, forming this colourful cloud. The image foreshadows the final fate of the Sun, which will eventually also become an object of this kind.

ESO 

WR124, a massive star that emits giant blobs of gas

Wolf-Rayet star WR124 and the surrounding nebula M1-67. Credit: Yves Grosdidier (University of Montreal and Observatoire de Strasbourg), Anthony Moffat (Universitie de Montreal), Gilles Joncas (Universite Laval), Agnes Acker (Observatoire de Strasbourg), and NASA