Orion Nebula shines in its grandest portrait

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The Trapezium's winds are doing such a thorough job of carving up its cloudy cocoon that in about 100,000 years, the Orion Nebula as we know it will fade from view, scientists say.

Stargazers of the future need not despair, however, because astronomers have discovered a gas cloud in the constellation Cassiopeia that has just begun shining with newborn stars. Known as W3, the cloud will become the Grand Nebula and replace Orion as Earth's most visible stellar nursery just as Orion disappears.

"The Grand Nebula in Cassiopeia constellation will appear in our sky just as the Great Nebula in Orion fades away," Megeath said.

Megeath is part of the team that discovered the Orion successor. Using two telescopes — the Hubble and the Very Large Array — the researchers discovered that W3 even contained its own version of the Trapezium made up of four or five massive stars.

The so-called proto-Trapezium stars are much younger than those found in Orion and appear to still be growing by accreting gas from their surrounding clouds.

Resolving a cosmic debate
The discovery of these stars may resolve a debate among scientists about how Orion's Trapezium formed in the first place. The Orion Nebula and the Trapezium within are of special interest to astronomers because it is believed that our own sun was born in such an environment.

According to one Trapezium formation hypothesis, each of the four massive stars formed separately but then descended into the center of the nebula to form a clump. Another leading hypothesis is that the Trapezium stars never moved at all and formed together right where they are.

Because the proto-Trapezium stars in W3 are clustered together, Megeath's team suspects that the second hypothesis is correct.

When they mature, the proto-Trapezium stars will emit their own, powerful stellar gusts and ultraviolet light, and carve out their own spectral skyscapes. Scientists are uncertain when this process will be complete or when the stars will reach their maximum brilliance, but think that it may around the time that Orion is scheduled to disappear.

"Who knows, in 100,000 years the emerging Grand Nebula in Cassiopeia may replace the fading Orion Nebula as a favorite object for amateur astronomers," Megeath said.

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