Constellation Report

This weekend we move on to the constellation Orion the Hunter. This constellation is one of the most recognized constellations in the sky. Its bright stars make it an easy find.

Orion was the son of the god Neptune and the nymph Euryale. This was no ordinary man. He was a huge man of extraordinary strength.  Unfortunately, he was  a boastful man. This led Gaia the Goddess of the Earth to send a scorpion to kill him. Now, in honor of that event, as Orion sets in the west, the scorpion is rising in the east.

Orion is the nebula capital of the universe. It's a well known fact. Nebulae can be found, seemingly, in every image you'll ever see of Orion. This nebulosity is both the birth and afterbirth of stars. Without nebulae, there would be no star formation.

Deep Sky Report

The focus of our efforts this week will be the deep sky objects of Orion . Orion can be found high and to the southeast shortly after dark. It's most famous feature, the belt of Orion cuts through the middle of the constellation.

In the upper left of the constellation is alpha star... a mag0.7 red giant known as  Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is big and bright. In fact, it is the 11th brightest star in the sky some 14,000 times brighter than our Sun. Were our sun located as far away as Betelgeuse, we would need a large telescope just to see it. It is also an extremely large star exceeding the volume of our star by 160 million times. In fact, were Betelgeuse to be located where our Sun is... we'd be INSIDE the star. In fact so would Mars... and at times, even Jupiter. I say at times, because Betelgeuse swells periodically. It's diameter fluctuates from over 400 million miles to a staggering 800 million miles. Wow! Not surprisingly, it is also one of the brightest stars in the sky. It's mass however is only about 20 times that of the sun... making it an extremely low density star.

Moving to the lower right of the the constellation, we come to the beta star mag0.14 Rigel. You may be wondering why Rigel (the brightest star in the constellation) is the Beta star???? There are several thoughts on this. First off, Betelgeuse sits higher in the sky... making it easier to view. This could make it seem brighter than it really is. Also, both stars are variable with Rigel ranging plus or minus .1 and Betelgeuse varying by an even larger range. There are reports back in 1933 where Betelgeuse reached mag0.2. Betelgeuse, by the way, is the only 1st magnitude star with a high variability. This was first noted by the astronomer Herschel back in 1836. Anyway... back to Rigel... an amazing star in it's own right. Rigel is the 7th brightest star in the sky. It is classified as a supergiant, with an intense blue-white color. It is some 57,000 times brighter than our sun. Rigel is about 900 light years distant. If it were as close as some of the brighter stars in the sky it would be as bright as the full moon and would be visible in the daytime! Rigel is also a double star... having a small mag6.7 companion star located about 9" away. A good 4" telescope should be able to split the two.

Ok, let's start things off with THE most amazing object in the whole sky. The one... the only... The Orion Nebula - M42(mag3.7) This "birth place of stars" shows more detail, more color, more everything.. then virtually any object in the entire night sky.  I'm having trouble coming up with enough superlatives to properly describe Orion. Checkout the awesome detail in this image by Utah Skies own Don Brown. Don shot this with a Canon 20D operating at prime focus through a Takahashi FS/102 refractor.

Orion is visible to the naked eye just below the belt of Orion. It is actually in the center of Orion's Sword. Point a pair of binoculars towards Orion and the nebula instantly jumps into view as a gaseous object engulfing the neighboring stars. Moving up in aperture the views become incredible. In the 25" you see all kinds of 3-D structure and color. 

The Orion Nebula is a huge, glowing cloud of gas. Predominantly made of hydrogen, the stars which you see inside the nebula were formed of this gas. And speaking of the stars. The bright stars at the center of the nebula are called the Trapezium. It is the light from these stars which lights the nebula and makes it glow.

Moving on, barely...we come to another beautiful nebula, this time it's a Messier Object, M43(mag9.0).  This bright diffuse nebula sits right next to M42, The Orion Nebula. In fact, it looks like an offshoot of M42. As such, it's just plain overwhelmed. That said, this would be a showcase object if it were located somewhere else in the sky.

This beautiful shot was taken by the renowned Astrophotographer David Malin of the Anglo-Australian Observatory.

Next up is The Horsehead Nebula . This nebula is actually created by dark matter between a bright background nebula and the viewer. This object is one of the most fascinating nebula in the sky, in fact, it was recently voted the "Most Popular" object by astronomers.

Ok... you're excited, huh? Unfortunately, this object is very difficult to observe visually. So... enjoy the image :)

This beautiful image was created by Al Kelly. Have you been to his site? If you haven't, you're in for a treat. Al has taken astro-photography to a new peak.

As if we hadn't seen enough spectacular nebulae, here's another to knock your socks off. This time it's NGC2024 - also known as the Flame Nebula.  Check it out! It really does look like a flame. 

This object presents a couple of challenges when observing. But... before you get discouraged, let me tell you that you will be able to overcome them all. First off is the bright star in the upper right of the image. This will help you to locate the nebula. Once you've found it though... it'll seriously hinder your viewing efforts. Your goal is to keep the star (Zeta Orionis) just outside your field of view. Next, use a nebula filter. They'll really help on this object. I've used both an OIII and an H-Beta filter. Both provide different perspectives on the object with the OIII being my personal favorite.

This beautiful image was created by Utah Skies own Don Brown using a Canon 20D digital camera shooting at prime focus through a Takahashi FS/102 refractor.

Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, diffuse nebula M78(mag8.0). We were having so much fun with objects in Orion that we decided to take it easy on you this week. M78 is a relatively easy object to find. I was looking at it in the 10" the other night. This is not the most impressive object when viewed in smaller telescopes (including the 10" :). But, under clear steady skies you'll find the view interesting. As I often do, I'd recommend varying magnification and trying some nebula filters if you have any. Each view will provide a piece of the puzzle you are trying to unlock.

Good Luck!

Events

Did you ever consider...

News