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Credit & Copyright: Carlos Fairbairn
Explanation:
Have you seen Orion lately?
The next few months will be the best for seeing this familiar constellation as it
rises continually earlier in the night.
However, Orion's stars and
nebulas won't look
quite as colorful to the eye as they do in this
fantastic camera image.
In the featured image,
Orion
was captured by camera showing its full colors last month
over a Brazilian copal tree from
Brazil's
Central-West Region.
Here the cool red giant
Betelgeuse
takes on a strong orange hue as the brightest star on the far left.
Otherwise, Orion's hot blue
stars are numerous, with
supergiant Rigel
balancing Betelgeuse at the upper right, Bellatrix at the
upper left, and
Saiph at the lower right.
Lined up in Orion's belt (bottom to top) are
Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka
all about 1,500
light-years away,
born of the constellation's well studied
interstellar clouds.
And if a "star" toward the upper right
Orion's sword
looks reddish and fuzzy to you, it should.
It's the stellar nursery known as the
Great Nebula of Orion.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Orion
Publications with words: Orion
See also: