Thanks for this, Tom. I'll never look at M42 the same again. While much of the math is a bit beyond my immediate grasp, the description answers a question that I've had for quite a while - how do we differentiate between objects and the stars between us and them? I wonder if the graphic whizzes at NASA will produce a new 3D model for the area in light of these findings. Tim On Sep 19, 2012, at 7:11 AM, Tom Polakis <tpolakis@xxxxxxx> wrote: > A pre-print of a paper for Astronomy and Astrophysics includes a labeled > image by local astroimager Jon Christensen. The paper discusses a cluster > between Earth and the Orion Nebula cluster. > > > http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.3787 > > At upper right is a link to a PDF of the full paper. Jon's image of M42 > appears on Page 3. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.