Post by sherlew99 on Apr 7, 2017 15:13:59 GMT -6
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MNN.com > Earth Matters > Space
A stellar explosion in Orion caught on camera
Jaymi Heimbuch
April 7, 2017
When we look up at the sky to view Orion the hunter, we're looking not just at a constellation but a place where stars are born. Within the constellation is the Orion Molecular Cloud 1. The European Southern Observatory explains how this works:
Stars are born when a cloud of gas hundreds of times more massive than our Sun begins to collapse under its own gravity. In the densest regions, protostars ignite and begin to drift about randomly. Over time, some stars begin to fall toward a common centre of gravity, which is usually dominated by a particularly large protostar — and if the stars have a close encounter before they can escape their stellar nursery, violent interactions can occur.
Just such a violent interaction occurred around 500 years ago when two protostars crashed into each other and caused an eruption.
MNN.com > Earth Matters > Space
A stellar explosion in Orion caught on camera
Jaymi Heimbuch
April 7, 2017
When we look up at the sky to view Orion the hunter, we're looking not just at a constellation but a place where stars are born. Within the constellation is the Orion Molecular Cloud 1. The European Southern Observatory explains how this works:
Stars are born when a cloud of gas hundreds of times more massive than our Sun begins to collapse under its own gravity. In the densest regions, protostars ignite and begin to drift about randomly. Over time, some stars begin to fall toward a common centre of gravity, which is usually dominated by a particularly large protostar — and if the stars have a close encounter before they can escape their stellar nursery, violent interactions can occur.
Just such a violent interaction occurred around 500 years ago when two protostars crashed into each other and caused an eruption.
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