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> Trapezium cluster in Orion nebula

Trapezium cluster in Orion nebula

author: R.Gendler/Novapix

reference: a-neb19-76100

Image Size 300 DPI: 11 * 8 cm

The Trapezium is the most famous multiple star system in the entire night sky. Located at the very heart of M42, the Orion Nebula is one of the youngest clusters known. It involves four bright stars (A, B, C and D) that are easily visible in any sized telescope with decent optical quality. They can be seen in this image as the four stars very close together at the center of the photo. At higher power with a larger telescope and good seeing conditions, two fainter stars of 11th magnitude (E and F) that are part of the system can also be seen. E and F can easily be seen in moderately sized amateur instruments but their visibility is more dependant on good seeing and optical quality than aperture. Two other 16th magnitude stars, G and H are also part of the system, but are too faint to be seen except in very large amateur instruments.

Keywords for this photo:

ASTRONOMY - M42 - MASSIVE STAR - NEBULA - NGC 1976 - OPEN CLUSTER - ORION - STAR - STAR CLUSTER - STAR FORMATION - TRAPEZIUM - YOUNG STAR -