Tuesday, August 2, 2011

First Oxygen Molecules Found in Orion Nebula

Have you ever checked out the Orion Nebula through a Telescope?
It is one of the most amazing objects to check out, and now that Oxygen has been confirmed there it is even more amazing.




International Business Times

Astronomers have found the first ever molecules of oxygen deep in space in a region of the Orion nebula with the Herschel Space Observatory, prompting searches to ensue in other star-forming regions.

Herschel, a mission under the European Space Agency (ESA) using infrared technology, is the first to confirm the existence of molecular oxygen, or two bonded oxygen atoms, rarely found in space though the Swedish Odin telescope spotted an unconfirmed molecule in 2007. This finding marks certainty regarding oxygen molecules in outer space, a phenomenon, though predicted, continued to puzzle astronomers.

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