Tag Archives: Orion

Skyward by David Levy: February 2021

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This entry is part 28 of 28 in the series Skyward by David Levy

Orion in Winter As twilight deepens these evenings, Orion is just clearing the eastern horizon. Robert Frost wrote eloquently in his famous poem “The Star Splitter” “You know Orion always comes up sideways, Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains.” Whenever I see Orion rising, which is almost every night from fall to midwinter, I am reminded of how poets like Robert Frost saw the mighty hunter as it entered the sky to take command of winter. Even if you have difficulty finding some constellations, the three stars in a row that form Orion’s belt are a giveaway. And if you have a telescope, as Frost did, the view is even better. Just below the belt lies a fainter set of three stars. Surrounding the middle one is a gigantic cloud of hydrogen gas which is the Great Nebula in Orion. It is one of the richest star forming regions in our whole galaxy. During that first winter … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – January 12, 2021

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This entry is part 179 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus appears very low above the southeastern horizon before sunrise. Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury continue to form a triple conjunction in the southwestern sky at dusk – Saturn may be a bit difficult to see; Mercury appears slightly higher above the horizon each evening. Mercury appears in the southwestern sky at dusk – the Moon joins Mercury on the evening of Jan 15th. Mars appears high in the southern sky after sunset; the constellations Orion, Taurus and Canis Major appear lower and to the east of Mars. If you look almost straight up at 3:00 AM, you can sky-hop from the Big Dipper to Arcturus and Spica.   The Moon is a waning crescent – visible low to the east before sunrise. The new Moon occurs on Jan. 13th – the Moon will be hidden in the glare of the Sun. After Jan. 13th, the Moon will be a waxing crescent – visible toward the southwest in early evening. If … Continue reading →

Betelgeuse Drama

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  Betelgeuse has always been eye-catching in the winter night sky. This star has for decades  appeared to my eye to be on the red side of orange. A warm colour in the darkness, very distinct. I am aware that is a variable star but observing variables, in general, has never been my thing. However, I am sure you know this red supergiant  has had a dramatic change in its normal manifestation. There is a Betelgeuse drama ongoing, it is very interesting at the moment. When I observed the change for myself on January 11th the first thing that came to my mind was that there must be something between us on Earth and the star. After all the star is 650 light-years away, that is a lot of space. It is also a lot of time because we are looking at Betelgeuse as it was multiple millions of years ago. The luminosity of the red super giant has altered … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – February 26, 2019

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This entry is part 85 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

This summer’s nationwide library reading program, “A Universe of Stories,” coincides with NASA’s 60th anniversary, and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The Warren Astronomical Society (Michigan) has received multiple requests from libraries for summer speakers, astronomy programs and display case setups – and they’re still coming in! I’ve reached out to other astronomy clubs and volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors in southeastern Michigan for help covering all the outreach requests. If you are looking for speakers for this summer, Solar System Ambassadors in your state, and local astronomy clubs are a great resource. You can find many clubs and events listed on the NASA Night Sky Network site. Venus and Saturn continue to spread apart this week, and the waning crescent Moon appears very near several planets in the southeastern predawn sky. Mercury can be seen very low in the western sky at dusk this week. Mars and Uranus are high in the west-southwestern sky before midnight; … Continue reading →

Hubble Finds Substellar Objects in the Orion Nebula

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In an unprecedented deep survey for small, faint objects in the Orion Nebula, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered the largest known population of brown dwarfs sprinkled among newborn stars. Looking in the vicinity of the survey stars, researchers not only found several very-low-mass brown dwarf companions, but also three giant planets. They even found an example of binary planets where two planets orbit each other in the absence of a parent star. Brown dwarfs are a strange class of celestial object that have masses so low that their cores never become hot enough to sustain nuclear fusion, which powers stars. Instead, brown dwarfs cool and fade as they age. Despite their low mass, brown dwarfs provide important clues to understanding how stars and planets form, and may be among the most common objects in our Milky Way galaxy. Located 1,350 light-years away, the Orion Nebula is a relatively nearby laboratory for studying the star formation process across … Continue reading →

3D Flight Through the Orion Nebula

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Astronomers and visualization specialists from NASA’s Universe of Learning program have combined visible and infrared vision of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to create an unprecedented, three-dimensional, fly-through view of the picturesque Orion Nebula, a nearby star-forming region. Viewers experience this nearby stellar nursery “up close and personal” as the new digital visualization ferries them among newborn stars, glowing clouds heated by intense radiation, and tadpole-shaped gaseous envelopes surrounding protoplanetary disks. Using actual scientific imagery and other data, combined with Hollywood techniques, a team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and the Caltech/Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) in Pasadena, California, has created the best and most detailed multi-wavelength visualization yet of this photogenic nebula. The fly-through enables people to experience and learn about the universe in an exciting new way. The three-minute movie, which shows the Orion Nebula in both visible and infrared light, was released to the public today. It is available to planetariums and … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- November 14, 2017

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This entry is part 21 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

The multi-day conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the southeastern predawn sky continues for the next couple days, and will be joined by a waning crescent Moon on the mornings of the 14th- 17th. For an observing challenge, see if you can spot the 1% illuminated Moon near Venus and Jupiter on the morning of the the 17th … here’s hoping for Earthshine! Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades are in the western sky before sunrise. Perseus, Cassiopeia and Cepheus are to the north before sunrise – see if you can spot them! Saturn is just above the treetops to the southwest after sunset, and is only visible for about a half hour before it sets. The Sun After nearly 2 weeks of spotless days, a small active region makes an appearance on the western limb of the Sun. The view from the Solar Dynamics Observatory) in 304 angstroms shows several prominences on the Sun’s limb, and a bright spot on the western limb, … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – August 8, 2017

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This entry is part 27 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus is a bit lower in the eastern predawn sky, and Orion is fully visible now before sunrise. The waxing gibbous Moon, just days after full,  rises in the east with the sunset, and sets in the west with at dawn. Jupiter is low in the western sky, and visible for only a short time. Saturn is high in the southern sky after sunset, and sets about 2:00 AM. The Perseid Meteor shower peaks the evening of August 11-12th; the Moon will be at Third-Quarter on August 14th. Apps used for this post: Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. NASA Eyes on the Solar System: an immersive 3D solar system and space mission app – free for the PC /MAC.

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In the Sky This Week – July 25, 2017

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This entry is part 22 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus is still bright in the eastern predawn sky, but a little bit lower each morning. The constellation Orion is rising with the dawn; a little more of the constellation visible each morning. A wafer-thin waxing crescent Moon will be visible for a short time after sunset in the west on July 25th. Jupiter is visible low in the southwestern sky, and will be a little lower in the sky each evening after sunset. Saturn is high in the southern sky, and is a great target for telescope observers. Jupiter will be a scant 3° South of the Moon after sunset on July 28th. The Moon will be at First Quarter on the evening of July 30th, surrounded by Jupiter and Saturn, and the Southern Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower peaks on July 29-30th; this would be a great evening to host an astronomy outreach event! Apps used for this post: Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. NASA … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Immigrant Stars

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This entry is part 100 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

The following column was published in The Tablet in November 2010 Orion is rising at around 8 pm this time of year, a harbinger of winter. If you have dark skies, no clouds, and a good southern horizon, look about midnight low in the sky for a pair of stars beneath Orion’s feet. They point to a globular cluster of stars called M79. It’s a pleasant sight in a small telescope. Globular clusters consist of half a million stars grouped into a ball only a few light years across. They’re thought to be the framework around which galaxies formed some ten billion years ago; thus they are mostly found orbiting about the centers of galaxies. But this time of year the center of our Milky Way galaxy, with most its globular clusters, lies on the opposite side of the sky from us, among the stars visible only in summertime. So what’s M79 doing here, all by itself, on this side … Continue reading →

NASA Tests Solid Rocket Boosters for its Space Launch System

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NASA tested a Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) for the world’s most powerful rocket: the Space Launch System (SLS) on the morning of June 28, 2016. This was the second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah, and the last full-scale test of the SRB before the first uncrewed SLS test flight in 2018. This flight will include NASA’s Orion spacecraft, and will mark a key milestone in NASA’s future plans for operations beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and voyages and Mars The booster was tested at 40 degrees Fahrenheit –the low end of its accepted propellant temperature range. After ignition, temperatures inside the booster reached nearly 6,000 degrees. The test lasted for two-minutes, and provided NASA with data on 82 qualification objectives needed for flight certification. Solid Rocket Booster Details Length: 177 feet Diameter: 12 feet Weight: 1.6 million pounds each Propellant: polybutadiene acrylonitrile (PBAN) Thrust: 3.6 million pounds each Operational time: 126 seconds SLS Homepage: … Continue reading →

Travelogue: Orion Spacecraft ESA European Service Module Media Event at NASA Glenn’s Plum Brook Station

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Launches and the conditions in space put incredible stresses on spacecraft components. Before a spacecraft takes flight, it must go through an exhaustive series of testing procedures. Many of those tests are done at Ohio’s NASA Glenn Research Center – Plum Brook Station; stresses akin to those experienced by spacecraft are simulated at this facility. I was fortunate enough to be “media guest” at the Nov. 30th ESA Service Module event – which was broadcast on NASA TV. Below is a NASA press release on the testing that will be done on the ESA European Service Module. After, I’ll share photos of the facility, and comments on discussions I had with NASA officials. NASA is about to begin testing the heart of Orion’s power systems at the world’s largest, most powerful space environment simulation facility early next year. Test engineers at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Space Power Facility (SPF) in Sandusky, Ohio, are preparing to put a full-size test version … Continue reading →