Thursday, January 23, 2014

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?

12 comments:

  1. I like this stuff, Dizzy ... sure do ... did you see the NASA's jelly doughnut? I wrote about it yesterday ...

    and oh, my .. I have seen Penny comment on other's blogs... triple? oh, lord.... sure do wish her well...

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    1. Yes, I saw your jelly donut. I'm thinking it is an ant hill (grin). Those dang fire ants can live anywhere. . .

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  2. I'll try to remember to head outside after dark this evening. We're far enough from town that I do see some of the stars and think Orion's overhead fairly early in the evening. I'll report back....

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    1. You are not far enough south for it to be too far north to see. I love looking up at night.

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  3. I guess....what ever you said. Can ya go camp'n an' fish'n on Orion Nebula? What good is it? Yum yum, "give me a order of Orion Nebula an' order of fries an' a small drink".

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    1. I don't know if you can camp any where near there. It isn't listed in my book of RV parks. So I guess I will not try to go there. . . I'll take an order of French fried onion rings to go.

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  4. For a city the size of Sacramento, there are more stars visible in the night sky than in most other cities. If it wasn't so cold I'd go out and look for Orion. I've always been able to recognize the Belt, but guess I've never looked for Betelgeuse.

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    1. It will be up there for a lot more nights. The longer you wait the longer you will have to stay up to see it.

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  5. I hear it sleeting, but yall gonna get more than we are. Gonna clear out in a few hours, head your way.

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  6. No sleet yet, but they say it is on the way. Not going to be a good night to watch the stars (grin).

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  7. I just wrote myself a note to go outside tonight and look up!

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    1. So, what did you see? It was raining and sleeting down here in sunny, warm East Texas. . .

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