Stargazing: Orion and Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse
Posted on 22 October 2009
I got up at 3:30AM this morning to catch the Orionid meteor shower. I happily got to see one really bright meteor zoom by. But the sky was pretty still for the next hour. Thankfully, I had a cup of hot cocoa and Orion to keep me company. Always a good sport, he took a moment to hold still and pose in the sky long enough for me to snap a quick picture. (Click images to get to ‘All Sizes’ if ya wanna see more details.)
Pic .1 : The Orion Constellation – Oct 21, 2009 3:30AM-ish, Hollywood
Pic .2 : Orion the Hunter
Pic .3 : Close-up of the Belt of Orion, the Sword (which I think it looks more like a “shlong“) and the Orion Nebula (aka Messier 42)
Pic .4 : Downtown Los Angeles; view from my balcony, just beneath and a little bit left of the constellation
It’s not bad, considering the amount of light pollution there is in Hollywood and my very limited experience with astrophotography. Someday I’d like to really sit down and take a better long-exposure picture, preferably in some field in the middle of nowhere. Or Chile where I hear they have a cool observatory — wouldn’t that be awesome?
Though I have a street rep to uphold, I’ll secretly admit to being kinda nerdy. (Okay fine fine, maybe “super” nerdy.) I’ll watch hours of Science Channel, Discovery, TLC and Bill Nye the Science Guy and then follow Jen around the kitchen, pestering her with weird facts about astronomy, technology or physics. She has somehow acquired a Zen mastery for tuning me out at these moments: (@_@) -”Uh huh……….. yeah, I’m listening…” I find it highly amusing that she thinks I don’t notice that her glassy-eyes might be looking directly at me, but they are actually reading Twitter on her phone via her peripheral vision. It’s kind of impressive really.
Anyhow, I will try not to bore you to the same extent. =) But here’s some quick Fun Facts about Orion — you never know, it may wind up being useful in a game of Trivial Pursuit someday.
- • Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations in the sky. The easiest way to find it is to look for the 3 bright stars that form the belt.
- • The constellation refers to Orion, a hunter in Greek Mythology. Ancient Egyptians associated the constellation to Osiris, god of rebirth and afterlife.
- • Betelgeuse (the star, not the “Ghost with the Most“) is a massive M-type red supergiant that is nearing the end of its life. It’s the 12th brightest star in the sky and is someday gonna go “BOOOOOOOM!”
- • Rigel is a B-type supergiant star, about 40,000 times brighter than our Sun. It is the 6th brightest star in the sky. This star may also collapse into a supernova in the distant future or shed its layers and become a white dwarf.
- • Bellatrix is also a supergiant and you may recognize the name from the Harry Potter franchise (a character in the movie played by Helena Bonham Carter).
- • The Sword of Orion is home to nebulae M42 and M43 (not to be mistaken with M83 which is a French electronica band that I like).
- • The Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye, even here in LA — it looks like a fuzzy star in the middle of the sword. I was so happy that you could see a bit of the clouds in my picture.
- • There are new stars being born in the Orion Nebula, approximately 700 in varying stages of development.
- • Orion also features the breathtaking Horsehead Nebula, though I can’t see it with my wee telescope nor my camera. I’ve only seen it in pictures online. Someday I hope to be able to view it with my own two eyes via an observatory, or when I can afford a better larger scope (preferably with a DSLR attachment, Santa!).
Anyway, I’m soo ready for sleep after staying up too late last night. But I heard there might be some Orionid meteors still out and about. So if you decide to stargaze in the wee hours tonight or sometime this week, give Orion a high five for me. Up top, big guy!
Related Links:
Star Tales – Orion the Hunter
Wikipedia: Orion Constellation
Orion Nebula
Horsehead Nebula
Betelgeuse
Orionid Meteor Shower
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