Very hot, new stars in the Great Nebula shine particularly brightly in x-ray emission. The brightest seen here is one of the TrapeziumΓÇÖs four visible stars (together they form the middle star in OrionΓÇÖs sword). This enormous star is 20 times more massive and over a million times brighter in x-ray emission than the Sun.
This image consists of five over- lapping photographs taken from the Earth-orbiting Einstein satellite. Images like these cannot be taken from the surface of the Earth because our atmosphere absorbs x-rays. Computers merged the images and assigned false colors to indicate the strength of the normally invisible x-ray radiation. Intensity is indicated, in descending order of strength, by white, red,
