Stargazing Much?

Yes, I know it’s winter for those of us in the northern hemisphere, although the wintry weather should start giving way to the warmer stuff in a few weeks.  We had a taste of it this past weekend out here in the sticks where I live. The sky was clear and the Moon has been gorgeous.

This is the time of year when the winter constellations are starting to slip lower in the west earlier each evening. Orion’s still holding up his part of the sky — so, if you want to see a starbirth region and several bright stars, go check out the Mighty Hunter while he’s still available.

The starbirth region is the Orion Nebula (also called M42), and it’s the faint fuzzy patch located below the three Belt Stars in the center of the constellation. There are hundreds of young stars shining out in the Nebula, including the four brightest which are collectively called the Trapezium (the reddish blob in the image at left). They are relative newborn stars, still eating away at the cocoon of gas and dust that gave them birth.

Astronomers have been studying the Orion Nebula in great detail, and have also found brown dwarfs and possible planetary systems in the region. What we can see easily through smaller telescopes and binoculars is part of a larger complex called the Orion Molecular Cloud, which contains a number of other objects you can see with medium-to-large telescopes. These would be the Flame Nebula, Barnard’s Loop, and the Horsehead Nebula. So, give that one a look, if you can, if for no other reason than the exotically named objects you can observe.

The bright stars are Betelgeuse and Rigel. Although not part of Orion (and not seen in this picture), you can’t miss Sirius (the three Belt Stars point right to it).  Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and is actually a binary star that’s really a white dwarf.  At 8.7 light-years distance, Sirius is one of the Sun’s closer neighbors.

Orion’s a good start for stargazing these chilly nights (and yes, it can get chilly even in warm climates), so go check it out. Bring along the binoculars if you can. And, if the Moon is bright, check it out AFTER you look at other parts of the sky (otherwise if you look at it first, you blow your dark adaptation).

Enjoy!