Orion Nebula is home to nearby black hole   The Orion Nebula is
a familiar sight to amateur astronomers as one of the brightest
gas clouds in the sky. Plus it is easy to find within one of the
most prominent constellations, in the Sword of Orion.  Orion
Nebula imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope  Orion Nebula
imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/Hubble
Space Telescope  The nebula, which appears as a swirling
maelstrom through large telescopes, is a famous example of a
cosmic nursery where new stars are being formed from gas and
dust.  Now new research suggests that the nebula contains an
intriguing extra component – a black hole with 200 times the
mass of the Sun. A team of astronomers claims that this explains
a mysterious force that binds a cluster of unruly, rapidly
moving stars.  The nebula is the closest stellar birthplace to
us at a distance of around 1,344 light-years. A black hole at
such a close distance would offer a great opportunity to study
such an object.  The cluster, whose f