This turbulent star formation region is one of astronomy’s most dramatic and photogenic celestial objects. In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an unprecedented look at the Orion Nebula. The four stars form a trapezoidal shape and energize the surrounding nebulosity. Small telescopes at higher magnifications will reveal the four brightest stars in the Trapezium Cluster, an open cluster of young, hot, massive stars that were formed within the Orion Nebula. Covering more than a degree of apparent sky, the nebula appears over four times the size of the full Moon. The nebula can easily be seen in binoculars and small telescopes. two stars and M42) south of Orion’s Belt. The nebula appears as the fuzzy middle star in Orion’s Sword, which is formed by a vertical row of three stars (i.e. The Orion Nebula is very easy to find as it is located just below Orion’s Belt, a prominent asterism in the winter sky. The nebula has the designation NGC 1976 in the New General Catalogue. It lies at a distance of 1,344 light years from Earth and is the nearest stellar nursery to Earth. With an apparent magnitude of 4.0, the Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky and is visible to the naked eye. You’ll have no trouble identifying it because of the lack of background stars over a 5′-wide region.Messier 42 (M42), the famous Orion Nebula, is an emission-reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion, the Hunter. NGC 1788’s south end meets dark nebula LDN 1616. The western one surrounds a 10th-magnitude star while the eastern lobe has a small, bright concentration of light at its center. The bright nebula has a diffuse border and features two lobes. Through a 10-inch telescope, you’ll have no trouble spotting NGC 1788. This object sits 2° north of magnitude 2.7 Beta (β) Eridani. This week’s large-telescope target is reflection nebula NGC 1788 in Orion. The bright star on NGC 1664’s southwestern edge is magnitude 7.7. The background star field in this area is rich, but you’ll have no trouble picking out the cluster. Through a 4-inch telescope at 100x, you’ll see three dozen stars. That gives it an area one-third as large as the Full Moon. It shines at magnitude 7.6 and measures 18′ across. You’ll find this attractive object 2° west of magnitude 3.0 Epsilon (ε) Aurigae. This week’s small-telescope target is open cluster NGC 1664 in Auriga. A nebula filter will help you see the nebulae better but will worsen the view of clusters. Pause to examine the many star clusters and nebulae that lie within this galactic neighbor. Through a 6-inch or larger telescope and a magnification around 200x, slowly scan back and forth across the Cloud’s face. To extend the Cloud’s boundary beyond this - to an astounding 11° by 9° - use binoculars or a rich-field telescope and pan back and forth. Outside the bar, the brightness drops rapidly, but you’ll still detect an oval haze measuring 6° by 4°. Note the galaxy’s brightest region, a luminous bar measuring roughly 5° by 1°. Under a dark sky, start observing the Large Magellanic Cloud without optical aid. It would shine with a magnitude of –2 and would measure 36° long. If we lived on a planet within the Cloud, the Milky Way would dominate the sky. The finest, the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070), is itself one of the sky’s top wonders. No less than 114 NGC objects lie within the Large Magellanic Cloud’s boundaries. What Magellan did was make them known to Europe thus, they bear his name. Both “clouds” had been visible to Southern Hemisphere dwellers throughout history. Historians often credit Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) with the discovery of the Large Magellanic Cloud and its neighbor, the Small Magellanic Cloud. That means you have to be at a location south of north latitude 25° just to begin to see the Cloud. In fact, its northern edge lies only 25° from the South Celestial Pole. This satellite galaxy of our Milky Way shines with a magnitude of 0.4.Īstronomers classify the Large Magellanic Cloud as an irregular galaxy. Below the celestial equator lie the brightest stars, the center of our galaxy, the best dark nebulae, and the most brilliant celestial wonder - the Large Magellanic Cloud. Southern Hemisphere observers definitely enjoy the sky’s better half. This week’s naked-eye object is the Large Magellanic Cloud in Dorado.
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