With the coming of the New Year – not to mention the New Millennium – it’s
time to welcome our old friend Orion back into the winter sky. This month’s
star chart show the southeastern sky at 9:00 PM on January 8.
The
Orion Nebula, M42, is about 40 deg above the horizon at this time, rising
higher as the night progresses. The nebula is clearly visible to the naked
eye as a fuzzy patch of glowing gas. The Trapezium is a small cluster of
four rather bright hot young stars, and two faint ones, embedded in the
nebula (see inset, with magnitudes). Indeed, the stars of the Trapezium
are responsible for the glowing fluorescence of the nebula.
The
Trapezium cannot be resolved by the naked eye because it is only about
20 arcseconds across, but its four bright stars are readily visible in
almost any small scope at modest power. We have all seen those four stars
many times, but the two fainter stars nearby are another matter. Sky &
Telescope (Feb, 2000, p 94) says you can see these stars at higher magnification
in a modest scope under dark skies with good seeing. Give it a try!
Don’t
forget to look at Saturn and Jupiter, well placed in the southern sky in
the early evening. And don’t forget the total lunar eclipse on Jan 20;
totality begins at 10:04 CST and ends at 11:23.
You can print a copy of this star chart so you
can take it outside.
