Orion

Orion, the Hunter, is another familiar constellation. It dominates the winter sky with the stars of the 'belt' easily identifiable, Betelgeux blazing red and Rigel a brilliant beacon in the sky.

Orion is rich in objects and items of interest. There is the famous Orion nebula (M42) with the Trapezium star cluster, a glorious sight in any telescope and the nebula is easily seen in binoculars. Many stars in the constellation of Orion are double stars and can be quite a challenge for a small telescope. I've had some excellent views of the Orion nebula both with and without a sky glow filter. On a moonless night I've made out some incredible detail in the nebula structure with a 9mm kelner. The 32mm eyepiece with the skyglow filter gave a better overall view of the nebula with wide arcing structures reaching up into the constellation. Quite an impressive sight.

The Horsehead nebula is also located in Orion. The nebula is located around Zeta orionis (left hand star of the belt) but it is a very difficult object for a small telescope. I can make out some luminosity around the star (and that was using a sky glow filter to enhance the nebula) but that's about it! No detail can be seen...

Stars like Betelgeux and Rigel are stellar giants. The atmosphere of Betelgeux, if it sat in place of our sun would reach out beyond the orbit of Jupiter! No wonder its called a red giant. Rigel is so luminous its 60,000 times more luminous than our sun. If Rigel were as close to us as Sirius then it would cast shadows on our planet at night.

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