Astr111 Photography Projects, Spring 2007

IC430 (V883 Ori), Andy McReynolds

This is an image of IC430 Nebula. It is interesting because it is reflecting the light of a nearby star, V883 Ori (down and to the left in the image). The star is a FU Orionis type star, meaning it is a pre-main sequence star. It is behind a cloud of gas that blocks all visible light and its visible light can only be examined in the reflection from IC430, a gas cloud of approximately 0.5 ly linear length. This research can reveal details that cannot be seen in the infrared, for example, by examining the spectra, it has been determined that V883 Ori is ejecting gas at high speeds.

In this image, the nebula appears very faint. Early in the last century it was observed to be much brighter. It is typical of FU Orionis type stars to rapidly change because they are developing. Researchers theorize that the changes in temperature are the result of accretional heating. It is possible that over a hundred years ago V883 Ori was exceptionally hot and bright because it had recently absorbed a large amount of material.

References:
Arnette, Bill. "Orion Nebula." Nine Planets. <http://astro.nineplanets.org/twn/n1976x.html>

Karen M. Strom, Stephen E. Strom. "The Discovery of Two FU Orionis Objects in L1641 " The Astrophysical Journal. <http://www.seds.org/MESSIER/xtra/ngc/n7293.html>