Tech UPTechnologyThe 'Veil of Orion' appears to be cracking

The 'Veil of Orion' appears to be cracking

 

Within the spectacular Orion Nebula – also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976 and located 1,344 light-years distant from Earth – lies the open cluster of stars known as Trapezium. The powerful stellar winds from these objects have created a light-year thick layer of dust and gas known as Orion’s Veil. However, astronomers have observed that this spherical shell is being punctured.

In a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, researchers report the discovery of a bulge moving at about 12 kilometers per second, and they believe the bulge’s properties will allow it to pass through Orion’s Veil.

“The bubble, with a diameter of about seven light-years, should be a nearly spherical structure, but we found a bulge in its northwestern part,” said Ümit Kavak, a SOFIA postdoctoral researcher based at NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and lead author of the research.

SOFIA observations show the emission of ionized carbon in this bulge. Shaped like a “U” lying on its side, the bulge extends well beyond the shell of Orion’s Veil. It’s a likely place for the shell to pierce, and the bulge’s chimney-shaped top seems to imply that it has already done so.

The cause of this bulge isn’t certain, but the team has some pretty strong hypotheses. These are young stars within the trapezoid. The bulge could have formed from jets and outflow of stars about to form, or it could be a pre-existing clump of material being kicked around. Or just another effect of the stellar winds.

“When you break through the shell of the Veil, you effectively start stirring up a cosmic soup of gas and dust by adding turbulence ,” Kavak said. “This is not the most appetizing soup, but it is one of the ways to form new stars or limit future star formation,” added Alexander Tielens, a researcher at Leiden University and a co-author of the paper.

This turbulence affects the density, temperature, and chemistry of its surrounding region, which can ultimately lead to the creation or destruction of star-forming sites.

Scientists believe that the interaction between protostellar jets and established stellar winds may be very important in the evolution of these stellar environments.

SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR. DLR provides the telescope, scheduled aircraft maintenance, and other support for the mission. NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, manages the SOFIA program, science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, based in Columbia, Maryland, and the German Institute SOFIA of the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft is maintained and operated by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703, Palmdale, California. SOFIA achieved its full operational capability in 2014 and the mission will end no later than September 30, 2022 . SOFIA will continue regular operations until then, including science flights and a deployment to New Zealand this summer.

Referencia: Breaking Orion’s Veil with fossil outflows. Received: 21 May 2021 Accepted: 9 February 2022 .

Published online 22 April 2022 Astronomy and Astrophysics 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141367

NASA, ESA, Frank Summers (STScI), Greg T. Bacon (STScI), Lisa Frattare (STScI), Zolt G. Levay (STScI), K. Litaker (STScI). Acknowledgment: Axel Mellinger, Robert Gendler, Rogelio B. Andreo

 

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