Saturday, February 22, 2025

Nebulas near Orion's Belt (evening)

In mid-February, mighty Orion stands upright over the southern horizon, crossing into the western half of the sky at about 9:30 p.m. local time. A number of interesting targets are located in the region around Orion's famous three-starred belt. Alnitak's radiation causes the hydrogen in the large, but faint Horsehead Nebula (IC 434), located half a degree south of the star, to emit red light from beyond distinctively silhouetted dust. Use a large
aperture telescope or a long exposure image. The Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) is a half-degree wide emission and reflection nebula located just 0.25 degrees to the east of Alnitak. Several nearby 7th-magnitude stars sport blue reflection nebulosity.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
--- SBBSecho 3.23-Linux
* Origin: CJ's Place, Orange City FL > cjsplace.thruhere.net (954:100/61)