Orion the Hunter provides winter show
I have often written about the constellation Orion the Hunter. This month is one of the best months to see this constellation — just look in the south-southeast after 9 p.m. You will easily see Orion’s two arms and two legs, represented by bright stars. You can also see his belt, formed by bright stars, some of the hottest and brightest stars we know. These belt stars have cool names. As you see them in the night sky and moving left to right, they are Alnilam, Mintaka and Alnitak — all names from Arabic.
However, there is a lot more to see in Orion than just the bright stars that form its outline — there are the nebulas.
In this column, over the years, I have shown you some of the really spectacular nebulas that can be found here by sharing some of my photographs. All of these nebulas have been shown close up as they appeared in various telescopes and cameras.
Where would these nebulas be if you were just looking at Orion with your eyes alone or with just binoculars? What would they look like? I can’t show you exactly how all of the nebulas would look if you were seeing them with the naked eye because some of them would be invisible to just your eyes alone. I can show you where such nebulas would be if your eyes were bigger than they are. I have included an image I made as a widefield photograph this last month that can show you where the major nebulas are. This image shows the
Horsehead Nebula, the Flame Nebula, and the Great Nebula in Orion, the Great Nebula forming what would be part of Orion’s sword.
First, find the three belt stars. Notice that the belt star on the left of the three belt stars [Alnilam] is surrounded by nebulosity in the image. This nebulosity includes the Horsehead Nebula and the Flame Nebula. In the wide-field image I share, these are rather small — but they are there.
Toward the bottom of the image, there is the Great Nebula in Orion, a bit overexposed, looking like a little pool of light.
Notice also the thousands of stars in the image. These are stars that lie on the winter Milky Way — star upon star.
This month, Jupiter and Saturn pass behind the Sun from our perspective. They will be lost from our view for a few weeks, but they will soon be back for our viewing in the dawn. Soon too, Venus will be an evening sight again after being seen only as a ‘Morning Star’ for several months.
I must admit, the cold weather puts me off amateur astronomy a bit when winter comes. I have to dress looking like the Michelin Rubber man, just to keep my old body from freezing. But … the cold is worth enduring just to get a look at the beautiful night sky on a clear winter night. Just go out and look!