Hubble Views the Trapezium Cluster in the Orion Nebula M42

Orion Nebula M42 Hubble pictures:

Trapezium Core,

Proplyd Disk HST 10,

Gallery of 6 star-disk systems,

Full Trapezium Region,

Central Trapezium.

Other Hubble pictures of M42:

Pre-repair,

Proplyd discovery (June 1994),

newer (November 1995),

May 1997 (OMC 1 with NIC).

Click on the images to see the larger versions.

The Trapezium Core

The core of the Trapezium showing the four energetic massive

stars and a plethora of Sun-like stars with surrounding extended emission.

The Trapezium is located in the center of the Orion nebula seen here as

a blue background glow. Note how the material surrounding the Sun-like stars

produces a cometary structure with a bright head and a tail pointing directly

away from the energetic central massive stars.

This false color mosaic was made by combining multiple Hubble Space Telescope

images.

HST 10 and Company

A false color image of the teardrop shaped HST 10 star-disk system

and immediate neighbors, a silhouetted disk (top left) and a second star-disk

system (bottom right). At the center of HST 10 lies a dark nearly edge on

disk with a diameter

approximately the same as Pluto’s orbit. Surrounding the system is diffuse hot

gas which has been evaporated from the disk surface. We are witnessing the

destruction of a circumstellar disk which if otherwise left alone would be

a strong candidate for producing planets.

This false color image was produced by combining three Hubble Space Telescope

images.

A Gallery of Star-Disk Systems

A gallery of star-disk systems in Orion’s Trapezium. The first four

objects are being evaporated by the central massive stars, while the last

two disks are visible in silhouette against the background nebula.

This false color image was produced by combining Hubble Space Telescope

images.

The Full Trapezium Region

An extended view of the Trapezium showing the four energetic massive

stars and a plethora of Sun-like stars with surrounding extended emission.

The Trapezium is located in the center of the Orion nebula seen here as

a blue background glow. Note how the material surrounding the Sun-like stars

produces a cometary structure with a bright head and a tail pointing directly

away from the energetic central massive stars.

This false color mosaic was made by combining multiple Hubble Space Telescope

images.

Full Resolution Image

Central Trapezium

The center of the Trapezium cluster showing the four massive energetic

stars and a number of evaporating proto-planetary disks.

These two false color mosaics were made by combining multiple Hubble Space

Telescope images.

Photo Credit for all images in this page: John Bally, Dave Devine, and

Ralph Sutherland.

These images were presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting

in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. Images and information from

Doug Johnstone‘s

Last Modification: 7 Jul 1999, 0:00 MET