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News Release
Office of News and Information
Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-2692
Phone: (410) 516-7160 / Fax (410) 516-5251
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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
AT 9:20 AM EDT
ON MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1997
CONTACT: Emil Venere
Emil@jhu.edu
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Astronomers Take Unusual
Ultraviolet Image of Orion
Astronomers at The Johns Hopkins University, using a
revolutionary satellite, have taken an unusual image of the
constellation Orion that may offer new insights about a bright
region where new stars are forming.
Findings from the research will be detailed in a paper to be
presented on June 9, during a meeting of the American
Astronomical Society. The paper will be on display from 9:20 a.m.
to 6:30 p.m. in the South Main Hall of the Benton Convention
Center in Winston-Salem. N.C.
It is among the first scientific papers based on observations
made with the Midcourse Space Experiment satellite built by the
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory and launched in April 1996.
MSX is the first satellite capable of taking wide-angle images
across the entire spectrum of ultraviolet, infrared and visible
light, giving astronomers a more complete view of the sky. By
observing the same regions in different wavelengths of light,
astronomers hope to learn more about properties of the Milky Way
galaxy as well as objects outside the galaxy.
The Orion image is particularly significant because it shows a
wide-angle ultraviolet view of dust surrounding a star-forming
region known as M42, located about 1,500 light years from
Earth.
This is a an ultraviolet image of the
constellation Orion taken with the Midcourse Space Experiment
satellite, built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
The image may provide insights into a bright region, called M42,
where new stars are forming.
The Orion image is particularly significant because it shows
a wide-angle ultraviolet view of dust surrounding M42, located
about 1,500 light years from Earth. The hotter an object is the
more ultraviolet light it emits. Because hot stars are typically
younger, studying the ultraviolet sky teaches scientists more
about the properties in regions where stars are born. But the
Earth's atmosphere filters out ultraviolet light, so space-borne
instruments must be used to make observations in the ultraviolet
spectrum.
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The hotter an object is the more ultraviolet light it emits.
Because hot stars are typically younger, studying the ultraviolet
sky teaches scientists more about the properties in regions where
stars are born. But the Earth's atmosphere filters out
ultraviolet light, so space-borne instruments must be used to
make observations in the ultraviolet spectrum.
The research team is led by astrophysicists
Richard
Henry, a professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of
Physics and
Astronomy, and Stephan Price, a scientist at the U.S. Air
Force's
Phillips Laboratory.
"Previous ultraviolet satellites have all had sort of tiny fields
of view, so they haven't been able to look at big areas at the
same time," said astrophysicist Marsha Allen, a research
scientist involved in the work.
"Some of these fields have been observed before, but with MSX we
hope to get a complete survey of the sky in both the ultraviolet
and the visible," said
Jayant Murthy, another research scientist
involved in the work.
Also involved in the research were Johns Hopkins graduate
students Andrew Dring and
Ryan Newcomer and post-doctoral fellow
Julian Daniels.
MSX may enable astronomers to learn more about the cycle of star
birth, death and rebirth taking place within the same regions of
space, Newcomer said. When stars explode, they release the raw
materials for the formation of new stars and heavy elements
essential for the creation of planets.
MSX also will enable astronomers to compare the way galaxies look
today with how they looked billions of years ago, Dring said.
The research has been funded by the Ballistic Missile Defense
Organization. MSX, operated by the Applied Physics Laboratory, is
used by the military to test space technology designed to
identify and track ballistic missiles during the "midcourse"
phase of flight, or the portion of flight after the rocket
booster burns out and before the missile reenters the atmosphere.
But MSX's imaging capabilities are being used for many other non-
military projects, including astronomy research.
Note: Journalists may obtain a hard copy of this image by
contacting Emil Venere, in the Office of News and Information, at
the above phone number and e-mail address.
Johns Hopkins University news releases can be found on the
World Wide Web at
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/
Information on automatic e-mail delivery
of science and medical news releases is available at the
same address.
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