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Orion Nebula Research

Press Release:

Destruction of Circumstellar Disks In Orion's Trapezium Explained

The following figures will be part of an upcoming (January 14th) press release. The first two figures will be included in the press kit and the others are included here for those who would like access for press purposes.

Click here for the poster and abstract presented to the AAS meeting.

Figures and Captions:

Figure 1: 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, made by combining multiple Hubble Space Telescope images, was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. PHOTO CREDIT: John Bally, Dave Devine, and Ralph Sutherland.

Figure 2: 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, produced by combining three Hubble Space Telescope images, was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. PHOTO CREDIT: John Bally, Dave Devine, and Ralph Sutherland.

Figure 3: 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, produced by combining Hubble Space Telescope images, was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. PHOTO CREDIT: John Bally, Dave Devine, and Ralph Sutherland.

Figure 4: 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, made by combining multiple Hubble Space Telescope images, was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. PHOTO CREDIT: John Bally, Dave Devine, and Ralph Sutherland.

Figure 5: The center of the Trapezium cluster showing the four massive energetic stars and a number of evaporating proto-planetary disks.

This false color mosaic, made by combining multiple Hubble Space Telescope images, was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. PHOTO CREDIT: John Bally, Dave Devine, and Ralph Sutherland.

Figure 6: The center of the Trapezium cluster showing the four massive energetic stars and a number of evaporating proto-planetary disks.

This false color mosaic, made by combining multiple Hubble Space Telescope images, was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1997. PHOTO CREDIT: John Bally, Dave Devine, and Ralph Sutherland.