The nebula of Orio, closer and older

2007/10/15 Lakar Iraizoz, Oihane - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

Orio's nebula is 20% closer to Earth than they imagined so far, at 1270 light years, according to recent measurements made by a group of the University of California.

The measurements have been made using a system of 10 radio telescopes in North America, called Very Long Baseline Array. The distance between the farthest radio telescopes is 8,000 kilometers and they all work together, so the radio telescope system is like a giant telescope. The resolution offered by this system has not been reached with any other telescope.

Since the distance of stars to the Earth is used to calculate clarity (and, therefore, age), the only conclusion that emerges from these results is not that the nebula of Orio is closer to what was previously thought, but is also older than what was thought.

Photo: J.C. Married (NASA)