It forms the second point of light in the hunter s scabbard in the Orion constellation. The Trapezium Cluster at the nebula s center contains more than 1,500 stars. Four massive young stars illuminate the nebula, making it possible to observe many objects that would normally be invisible. The starlight they produce is so intense, in fact, that it ionizes thin layers of the gas in the region, producing a rainbow of colors. So it s not surprising that studies of Orion have provided astronomers with some of the best information about the process of star formation.
Astronomers call such star and disk systems proplyds.
Based on the assumption that similar conditions prevail in other stellar nurseries, the finding strengthened the hypothesis that planet production is a common side effect of the star formation process. In a May 1 presentation at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society in Washington D.C., O Dell reports that the most recent studies of Orion appear to have come up with a planet stopper. The youngest and brightest stars in the cluster are so powerful that the ultraviolet radiation they produce should blast away the dust and gas surrounding newly formed stars before they can form planets. According to current estimates, it takes about 10 million years for a planet to form, O Dell says. The massive, young stars in Orion are more than 100,000 times as luminous as the sun.