Sunday, April 1, 2007

Solar-System-Size Bullets in Space

These trails are unnerringly similar to the structures formed when a bullet penetrates ballistic gel (Ever see those demonstrations in CSI?). Actually, they are created by iron-based masses ten times the size of our solar system hurtling at supersonic speeds through hot gas in the Orion nebula. What caused them to shoot is a mystery but it is thought to be a very cataclysmic event.

No comments: