Wondering about the Orion Nebula.

The last few nights have been quite clear and before I go to bed I step outside with the pups and take a look at the sky.  Of course the first thing that catches my eye is the Orion Nebula.  This is one of the few areas of nebulosity that is visible to the naked eye and looks really good with just a pair of binoculars.  For any of you who do not know what the Orion Nebula looks like, here are some pictures:

Betelgeuse (pronounced beetle juice) is the bright red star forming the upper left shoulder, the sloped three bright blue stars form his belt, and to the lower left is his sword made up of blue and red stars.  Of course that thing that looks like a red star is actually most of the nebula.



 

And here is a close-up of Orion's belt:



 

 

Did you notice in the lower left of the above picture that dark spot protruding out of the right side of the gas cloud?  The next two pictures below show the horse's head nebula.  The view is rotated 90 degrees counter clock wise.

 

 

Go outside and look straight up at about 20:00 and you will see Orion.  To see the nebulosity better, get your binoculars out and take a closer look.  You will probably not see the horse's head, but you will see the nebula.  You also will not see all the colors.  It takes long exposure times to see colors.  But take a look and let me know what you see.

I just got a call from Lake Conroe Penny, she is in the Hospital recovering from triple by-pass surgery.  We all wish her a speedy and complete recovery.

You all have great day, you hear?