THEOPENSPACEINORION^243"The most remarkable feature connected with the
nebulaofOrionistheso-calledtrapezium... .That
thesefourstars formasystembythemselves cannot
bedoubted. Thedarknessofthenebulaimmediately
aroundthemsuggests thattheywere formedatthe
expenseofthenebulous mass."
—''TheStars/' pages
t8o,i8i.
Wehavealreadyquotedthestatementofonewriter
totheeffectthatapparentlyemanations stretchaway
fromthetrapezium,thecore,asitwere,ofthenebula,
inwidecurves, to form theoutlying portions. An-
otherspeaksofthisas"thenucleusofafar-spreading
spiral formation, probably an outlier of the Milky
Way." ("Nelson's Encyclopaedia," article "Orion.")
Ball,inhis"TheStoryoftheHeavens,"admitsthat
"thereseemstobeanemptyspaceinthenebulasur-
roundingthemultiplestar." (Page455.)
Puttingallthesestatementstogether,ifhumanob-
servationisworthanythingatall,thenebulainOrion
is like a huge funnel, so to speak, withthe larger
openingtoward us,and the tube-like portion termi-
natingintheregionofthetrapezium. Allthiswillap-
pearquiteclearbeforeweclosethechapter.
Butletusdigressforamomenttodiscover,ifwe
can,whatnebulasare.
Astronomersnowbelievethatthenebulaeareclouds
eitheroffineparticles,orofagas. Thelightgiven
out is something entirely outside man's experience.
Astronomers arepuzzled as to its origin and condi-
tions. SomesupposethisHghttobecoldlight,giving
outno moreheatthan does interstellarspace, which