Orion
As almost everyone knows, Orion is a constellation in the winter sky and
depicts the hunter. The Orion Nebula lies in the sword of the hunter, extending
southward from the belt.
Farther south, below the Orion Nebula, lies the molecular cloud
L1641. For the past decade I have spent most of my time studying star
formation in this cloud, using every means at my disposal, using wavelengths from
the x-ray through the radio. Star formation
in the densest parts of this cloud, where small clusters of stars have formed, is
the subject of Lori's
Ph.D. thesis. She has been doing almost
nothing for the last year (1993) but analyzing spectra of the stars within the Lynds
1641 molecular cloud.
Therefore it is not surprising that we felt pursued by Orion when, on driving
north toward Flagstaff,
we found Orion (in the south!) meeting us around every turn!
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