APOD: 2003 November 15 - LL Orionis: When Cosmic Winds Collide (original) (raw)
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LL Orionis: When Cosmic Winds Collide
Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA /STScI), C. R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt),NASA
Explanation: This arcing, graceful structure is actually a bow shock about half a light-year across, created as the wind from young star LL Orionis collides with theOrion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion'sstellar nurseryand still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more energetic thanthe wind from our own middle-aged sun. As the fast stellar wind runs into slow moving gas a shock front is formed, analogous to thebow wave of a boat moving through water or a plane traveling at supersonic speed. The slower gas is flowing away from the Orion Nebula's hot central star cluster, theTrapezium, located off the lower right hand edge of the picture. In three dimensions, LL Ori's wrap-around shock front is shaped like a bowl that appears brightest when viewed along the "bottom" edge.The complexstellar nursery in Orion shows a myriad of similarfluid shapes associated withstar formation, including the bow shock surrounding a faint star at the upper right. Part ofa mosaic covering the Great Nebulain Orion, this composite color image was recorded in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Tomorrow's picture: Leaking Leo
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