Orion Nebula

Orion Nebula

I chose Orion because of because its unique ability to create thousands of young stars.
Chemicals: Hydrogen, Oxygen, Helium, and Carbon
Locations: Right Ascension: 5h 35.4m; Declination: 5o 27′ south
Stellar Classification: class M

According to modern astronomers, the Orion Nebula is an enormous cloud of gas and dust, commonly known as M42, is one of many in our Milky Way galaxy. It lies roughly 1,300 light-years from Earth.

At some 30 to 40 light-years in diameter, this great big nebulous cocoon is giving birth to perhaps a thousand stars. A young open star cluster, whose stars were born at the same time from a portion of the nebula and are still loosely bound by gravity, can be seen within the nebula. It is sometimes called the Orion Nebula Star Cluster. In 2012, an international team of astronomers suggested this cluster in the Orion Nebula might have a black hole at its heart.

The four brightest stars in the Orion Nebula can be seen through amateur astronomers’ telescopes and are affectionately known as The Trapezium. The light of the young, hot Trapezium stars illuminate the Orion Nebula. These stars are only a million or so years old – mere babes in the lifetime of a star.


But most of the stars in this emerging cluster are veiled behind the Orion Nebula itself, the great stellar nursery in Orion’s Sword.

Orion Nebula’s position is Right Ascension: 5h 35.4m; Declination: 5o 27′ south

When measured, the intensities of about 220 emission lines, in particular 81 permitted lines of C+, N+, N++, 0°, 0+, Ne0, Si+, Si++ and S+, are produced by recombination only and others mainly by fluorescence. The He, C and 0 abundances derive from recombination lines and find that the C/H and 0/H values are very similar to those derived from B stars of the Orion association, and that these nebular values are independent of the temperature structure. The abundances caused from collisionally excited lines depend on the temperature structure; accurate t2 values have been derived comparing the On recombination lines with the [O III] collision ally excited lines. The gaseous abundances of Mg, Si and Fe show significant depletions, implying that a substantial fraction of these atoms is tied up in dust grains. The derived depletions are similar to those found in warm clouds of the Galactic disc, but are not as large as those found in cold clouds.

Sources:
C, E., M, P., S, T., & V, E. (1998, April). Chemical composition of the Orion nebula derived from echelle spectrophotometry. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998MNRAS.295..401E 

 McClure, B. (2015, January 30). Orion Nebula is a place where new stars are born | EarthSky.org. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/orion-nebula-jewel-in-orions-sword#science 

 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2015, September 20). Orion Nebula. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula 

 Visible Spectra of the Elements. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.umop.net/spctelem.htm