Splendors of the Universe

Dr. Harold Alden WilliamsMontgomery College

Planetarium at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring CampusMaryland, United States of America, Planet Earth, Star

Sol, in the Milky Way Galaxy an outlying member of the Virgo Supercluster!

1Saturday, November 10, 12

Orion Nebulae2Saturday, November 10, 12

M42 is located at a distance of1,344 20 light years[3][6]and is the closest region of massive star formation toEarth.

Great Orion Nebulae or M42 or NGC1976

3Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Orion_Nebula The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24light years across. It has a mass of about 2000 times the mass of the Sun.

Dust, Blue reflection nebulae,

H and He, Red emission nebulae

4Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_nebula http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_nebula

Horse head nebulae, or Bernard 33, a dark nebulae,within emission nebulae IC434, bright Orion belt star Alnitak

5Saturday, November 10, 12

Right ascension 05h 40m 59.0sDeclination 02 27 30.0"Alnitak (Arabic: an-niq) is a triple star some 736 light years distant in theconstellation Orion. It is part of Orion's Belt along withAlnilam and Mintaka, and has a Bayer designation ofZeta Orionis.The primary star is a hotblue supergiant with an absolute magnitude of -5.25, and is the brightest class Ostar in the night sky with a visual magnitude of +2.04. It has two bluish 4th magnitude companions, producing a combined magnitude for the trio of +1.72. The stars are members of the Orion OB1association and theCollinder 70 association.

Close up of Horses Head Nebulae

6Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_head_nebulaThe nebula was first recorded in 1888 byWilliamina Fleming on photographic plate B2312 taken at the Harvard College Observatory. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of the shape of its swirling cloud of dark dust and gases, which is similar to that of a horse's head when viewed from Earth.[2]She worked as a maid in the home of Professor Edward Charles Pickering. Pickering became frustrated with his male assistants at the Harvard College Observatory and, legend has it, famously declared his maid could do a better job.[1]

Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, M45, Japanese name Subaru

7Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiadeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_in_folklore_and_literatureopen star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. Formed within the last 100 million years. 128 parsecs or 410 LY away from us. They are also mentioned four times in the Bible(Job 9:9 and 38:31, as well asAmos 5:8 and Revelation 3:1).Alcyone B7IIIe 2.86mag; Atlas B8III 3.62mag; Electra B6IIIe 3.70mag; Maia B7III 3.86mag; Merope B6IVev 4.17mag; Taygeta B6V 4.29mag; Pleione B8IVpe5.09 (var.)mag

Rosetta Nebula in Monoceros, also called Caldwell 49, a large circular H II region

circling some Wolf-Rayet stars 8Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosette_Nebula http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf-Rayet_star The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.The complex has the following NGC designations: NGC 2237 Part of the nebulous region (Also used to denote whole nebula) NGC 2238 Part of the nebulous region NGC 2239 Part of the nebulous region (Discovered by John Herschel) NGC 2244 The open cluster within the nebula (Discovered by John Flamsteed in 1690) NGC 2246 Part of the nebulous region

The cluster and nebula lie at a distance of some 5,200 light-years from Earth (although estimates of the distance vary considerably, down to 4,900 light-years.[3]) and measure roughly 130 light years in diameter. The radiation from the young stars excite the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit radiation themselves producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be around 10,000 solar masses.

Wolf-Rayet stars in the center of the Rosette Nebula

9Saturday, November 10, 12

Abstract Art of the Creator 10Saturday, November 10, 12

S Monocerotis and NGC 2264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Monocerotis S Monocerotis, also known as 15 Monocerotis, is a massive variable star system located in the constellation Monoceros.[7] It is a spectroscopic binary system with an orbital period of 25 years.[8] Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified.[9] It is a type O main sequence dwarf with a stellar classification of O7Ve, and is about 8,500 times as luminous as the Sun, while varying in between magnitude 4.2 and 4.6. The star lies at the base of the Christmas Tree Cluster in NGC 2264. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2264 NGC 2264 is the designation number of the New General Catalogue that identifies two astronomical objects as a single object: the Cone Nebula, the Christmas Tree Cluster,

Two other objects are within this designation but not officially included: Snowflake Cluster,[2][3] and the Fox Fur Nebula.[4]

All of the objects are located in the Monoceros constellation and are located about 800 parsecs or 2600 light-years from Earth.NGC 2264 is sometimes referred to as the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula. However, the designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects and not the cluster alone.

Cone Nebula11Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_Nebula The Cone Nebula is an H II region in the constellation of Monoceros. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 26, 1785, at which time he designated it H V.27. The nebula is located about 830 parsecs or 2,700 light-years away from Earth. The Cone Nebula forms part of the nebulosity surrounding the Christmas Tree Cluster. The designation of NGC 2264 in the New General Catalogue refers to both objects and not the nebula alone.The diffuse Cone Nebula, so named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the magnitude-3.9 Christmas Tree Cluster. It is in the northern part of Monoceros, just north of the midpoint of a line from Procyon to Betelgeuse.The cone's shape comes from a dark absorption nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by S Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264. The faint nebula is approximately seven light-years long (with an apparent length of 10 arcminutes), and is 2,700 light-years away from Earth.

Milky Way in Sagittarius12Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_(constellation) Sagittarius is a constellation of the zodiac, the one containing the galactic center. Its name is Latin for the archer, and its symbol is (Unicode U+2650 ), a stylized arrow. Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur drawing a bow. It lies between Ophiuchus to the west and Capricornus to the east.

M17 and Milky Way Galaxy13Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_17 The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula[1][2] (catalogued as Messier 17 or M17 and as NGC 6618) is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius. The Omega Nebula is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter. The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of 30,000 solar masses.[3] The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses.[4]It is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions of our galaxy.[5] Its local geometry is similar to the Orion Nebula except that it is viewed edge-on rather than face-on.[6]

Drawing by Trouvelot while at USNO of M17

14Saturday, November 10, 12

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/TPSMV8P294_Fig_7.jpg A sketch by Trouvelot in 1875. USN0 26 inch telescope

Star Cloud in Sagittarius15Saturday, November 10, 12

Baades Window in Sagittarius16Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baade%27s_Window Baade's Window is an area of the sky with relatively low amounts of interstellar "dust" along the line of sight from the Earth. This area is considered an observational "window" as the normally obscured Galactic Center of the Milky Way is visible in this direction. It is named for astronomer Walter Baade who first recognized its significance. This area corresponds to one of the brightest visible patches of the Milky Way.

17Saturday, November 10, 12

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/HST_SWEEPS_Galaxy_Location-2006.jpg

Nebulae in Sagittarius18Saturday, November 10, 12

Dust Cloud NGC652019Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6520 NGC 6520 is an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.

Nebulocity in Sagittarius20Saturday, November 10, 12

Reflection & Trifid21Saturday, November 10, 12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifid_Nebula The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars; an emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent 'g