Where to find orion nebula

The Trapezium Cluster is a young star cluster and contains hundreds of young stars at various staged of formation. According to ESA , high-speed jets of hot gas released by some young stars are sending shockwaves through the nebula at speeds of , mph. The cluster is easily located as the brightest four stars form the shape of a trapezoid.

The constellation of the hunter has also proven a fertile hunting ground for extra-solar planets, or exoplanets , planets beyond the solar system. Here are a few of the planets or potential planets that have been discovered in stars that fall within Orion's boundaries in the Earth's sky.

The star CVSO 30 is 1, light-years away and likely hosts a couple of potential planets. CVSO 30c if it exists is a gas giant that orbits its star at a distance of astronomical units Earth-sun distances and makes an orbit every 27, years. The other candidate planet is gas giant CVSO 30b, which by contrast is extremely close — just 0. A Jupiter-size potential exoplanet, PTFOb , is about 1, light-years from Earth and if it exists is so close to its star that its outer layers are being ripped away from the rest of the planet.

The star's system showed high-energy hydrogen emissions that can't be explained by stellar activities or features, according to astronomers. There are a few other probable planets in Orion as well, although their existence may be proved or disproved with more observations. These include HD b and HD c two gas giants orbiting in a system with a huge debris disk , HD b a gas giant orbiting in the habitable zone of its star and HD b a gas giant that orbits extremely close to its parent star.

In Greek mythology, Orion was a hunter. According to greekmythology. According to the oldest version, described on greekmythology. Orion inherited the ability to walk on water from his father and made his way to the island of Chios. It was there that Orion drank too much and made sexual advances to Merope, the daughter of the local king. Finding the Orion Nebula is easy as it is in the constellation Orion, one of the most easily recognisable constellations.

In February and early March, Orion will be visible in the eastern sky as soon as the Sun sets, sweeping south in the northern hemisphere then setting in the west in the early hours of the morning. In the southern hemisphere, Orion will be visible in the north, appearing upside-down compared to how it looks in the northern hemisphere. The nebula is halfway down the sword and will appear as a fuzzy-looking star. By: Alan MacRobert November 5, Sky Tour Astronomy Podcast. By: J.

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By: Diana Hannikainen October 15, Constant Contact Use. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact. It takes a little bit of time and patience to get familiar with what it has to offer. I encourage you to have a little patience and spend a few nights with your telescope. Once you identify your first few constellations and learn the names of some of the brighter stars, you will quickly get a knack for it, and in no time you will easily recognize many more constellations.

From there, you will be able to star hop from one amazing celestial object to another. If you dedicate a few hours to stargazing over the course of a few nights, chances are good that you will become a lifelong lover and observer of the night sky, just as I am. The charts were modified to point out certain objects or features as they are being discussed.

There are a few things you should know when reading a star chart. First, the stars are of different magnitudes, which are represented on the charts as different-sized dots. The larger the dot, the brighter the star. Second, the orientation of star charts can be confusing. You are viewing the charts on a screen, all in one direction.

But the night sky is perpetually rotating. Every hour of every night, the orientation of the stars and constellations changes because the Earth is at a different stage of its rotation.

When stargazing, you can compensate for the changing orientation by finding the major stars or constellations on the chart, and adjusting accordingly so that the chart matches the sky. Now, onto the fun bit- let's talk about nebulae and how to see one with your telescope!

Our galaxy is ever-changing, although the changes happen at a slow pace in terms of human perception. Over the course of millions of years, stars are born, go through a life cycle, and die.

In this process, a lot of gaseous matter is formed and reformed. And this matter can be concentrated into something called nebulae. Through the telescope, these nebulae appear as fluffy, cotton-ball-like structures in a variety of shapes and colors. Nebulae are categorized into four major types: diffuse, planetary, dark, and supernovae remnants. You will also look at a diffuse nebula that is currently birthing stars.