1 00:00:20,186 --> 00:00:24,224 DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS. 2 00:00:24,324 --> 00:00:27,360 I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. 3 00:00:27,460 --> 00:00:31,531 JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE 4 00:00:31,631 --> 00:00:32,766 FLORIDA. 5 00:00:32,866 --> 00:00:34,801 WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY. 6 00:00:34,901 --> 00:00:39,005 DEAN: ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT WINTER IS THAT IT ALWAYS BRINGS THE RETURN OF ONE 7 00:00:39,105 --> 00:00:40,907 OF THE TRUE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE. 8 00:00:41,007 --> 00:00:42,776 JAMES: THAT WOULDN'T BE SNOW, WOULD IT? 9 00:00:42,876 --> 00:00:44,210 DEAN: NOT QUITE, JAMES! 10 00:00:44,310 --> 00:00:47,447 BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS VERY EASY TO SPOT IN THE WINTER SKY. 11 00:00:47,547 --> 00:00:49,349 AN OBJECT IN DEEP SPACE! 12 00:00:49,449 --> 00:00:50,550 JAMES: SWEET! 13 00:00:50,650 --> 00:00:52,118 LET'S SHOW YOU! 14 00:00:52,218 --> 00:00:56,689 DEAN: WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET UP FOR ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK AT ABOUT 7:30PM. 15 00:00:56,790 --> 00:01:01,161 IN THE SOUTHEAST YOU'LL SEE WHAT HAS TO BE THE SECOND MOST FAMILIAR PATTERN OF STARS 16 00:01:01,261 --> 00:01:06,299 (AFTER THE BIG DIPPER THAT IS), A PATTERN WHICH IS LOADED WITH BRIGHT STARS, KNOWN AS 17 00:01:06,399 --> 00:01:07,700 ORION THE HUNTER. 18 00:01:07,801 --> 00:01:11,738 JAMES: TO FIND HIM LOOK FOR HIS BELT OF THREE STARS IN A ROW. 19 00:01:11,838 --> 00:01:15,675 THESE ARE THE STARS, ALNITAK, ALNILAM AND MINTAKA. 20 00:01:15,775 --> 00:01:21,815 DEAN: ABOVE THESE 3 BELT STARS YOU'LL SEE 2 BRILLIANT STARS MARKING ORION'S SHOULDERS, 21 00:01:21,915 --> 00:01:24,150 BETELGEUSE AND BELLATRIX. 22 00:01:24,250 --> 00:01:29,422 AND BELOW HIS BELT, 2 OTHER STARS MARK HIS ANKLE AND HIS KNEE, RIGEL AND SAIPH. 23 00:01:29,522 --> 00:01:33,860 JAMES: WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT ORION'S BRIGHT STARS, BUT FOR THIS EPISODE, WE WOULD LIKE 24 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:37,397 TO ZERO-IN ON ONE OF ORION'S MORE SUBTLE OBJECTS. 25 00:01:37,497 --> 00:01:43,002 LOOK BELOW THE BELT STARS FOR 3 MUCH DIMMER STARS, THE STARS WE CALL THE SWORD OF ORION. 26 00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:46,773 THERE WE WILL FIND ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME WONDERS OF OUR NEARBY UNIVERSE. 27 00:01:46,873 --> 00:01:52,145 DEAN: IF YOU LOOK VERY CAREFULLY AT THESE 3 STARS YOU'LL NOTICE THAT NO MATTER HOW SHARP 28 00:01:52,245 --> 00:01:57,750 YOUR EYESIGHT, THE MIDDLE STAR ALWAYS SEEMS TO LOOK FUZZY OR SLIGHTLY OUT OF FOCUS AND 29 00:01:57,851 --> 00:02:02,455 THAT'S BECAUSE THIS STAR IS NOT A STAR AT ALL, BUT SOMETHING WE CALL A NEBULA. 30 00:02:02,555 --> 00:02:07,594 JAMES: A NEBULA IS A COSMIC CLOUD OF GAS AND DUST AND THE GREAT NEBULA OF ORION IS ACTUALLY 31 00:02:07,694 --> 00:02:10,029 A STELLAR RECYCLING CENTER. 32 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:15,034 WITHIN THIS NEBULA, BRAND NEW STARS HAVE BEEN, AND ARE STILL BEING BORN FROM THE SURROUNDING 33 00:02:15,135 --> 00:02:16,803 CLOUD. 34 00:02:16,903 --> 00:02:19,639 DEAN: IN FACT, YOU CAN SEE THIS NEBULA USING EVEN THE CHEAPEST PAIR OF BINOCULARS. 35 00:02:19,739 --> 00:02:25,879 THIS CLOUD IS ILLUMINATED BY 4 RECENTLY-BORN STARS ARRANGED IN THE SHAPE OF A BASEBALL 36 00:02:25,979 --> 00:02:31,451 DIAMOND CALLED THE TRAPEZIUM, AND THESE 4 STARS CAN ACTUALLY BE SEEN WITH A SMALL TELESCOPE. 37 00:02:31,551 --> 00:02:37,323 NOW, ALTHOUGH THE ORION NEBULA LOOKS TINY, IN REALITY, ITS SIZE IS MIND-BOGGLING. 38 00:02:37,423 --> 00:02:43,129 DEAN: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THERE IS ENOUGH MATERIAL IN THIS NEBULA TO PRODUCE OVER 10 THOUSAND 39 00:02:43,229 --> 00:02:45,331 STARS THE SIZE OF OUR SUN! 40 00:02:45,431 --> 00:02:49,969 BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE IMPRESSED, CHECK OUT THE WIDTH OF THE ORION NEBULA. 41 00:02:50,069 --> 00:02:55,241 AS NEBULAE GO, THIS ONE IS GIGANTIC; SPANNING OVER 30 LIGHT YEARS IN DIAMETER. 42 00:02:55,341 --> 00:02:58,811 JAMES: JUST TO GIVE YOU A REFRESHER, A LIGHT YEAR IS NOT A MEASURE OF TIME, BUT A MEASURE 43 00:02:58,912 --> 00:03:00,747 OF DISTANCE. 44 00:03:00,847 --> 00:03:05,385 SPACE IS SO BIG AND THE STARS ARE SO FAR AWAY, THAT WE ASTRONOMERS DON'T MEASURE THE DISTANCES 45 00:03:05,485 --> 00:03:09,556 BETWEEN THE STARS IN TERRESTRIAL UNITS LIKE MILES OR KILOMETERS. 46 00:03:09,656 --> 00:03:11,424 WE USE THE TERM LIGHT YEAR. 47 00:03:11,524 --> 00:03:18,565 DEAN: LIGHT TRAVELS AT A WHOPPING 186,000 MILES PER SECOND, WHICH IS ALMOST 670 MILLION 48 00:03:18,665 --> 00:03:20,400 MILES PER HOUR! 49 00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:24,671 THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, 50 00:03:24,771 --> 00:03:27,440 YOU COULD MAKE THE TRIP IN A LITTLE LESS THAN TWO SECONDS. 51 00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:31,844 IF YOU TRAVELED FROM THE EARTH TO THE SUN AT THAT SAME SPEED, YOU COULD MAKE THE TRIP 52 00:03:31,945 --> 00:03:33,713 IN A LITTLE OVER 8 MINUTES. 53 00:03:33,813 --> 00:03:38,418 AND IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL FROM EARTH TO PLUTO AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT, YOU COULD MAKE THE 54 00:03:38,518 --> 00:03:40,954 TRIP IN A LITTLE OVER 5 HOURS. 55 00:03:41,054 --> 00:03:45,525 DEAN: SO WE'RE GOING TO FLY YOU THROUGH THE ORION NEBULA AND TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS 56 00:03:45,625 --> 00:03:47,427 STAR FACTORY. 57 00:03:47,527 --> 00:03:51,698 JAMES: THE FORCE OF GRAVITY IS BRINGING CLOUDS OF GASES TOGETHER AND WHEN THEY BEGIN FUSING 58 00:03:51,798 --> 00:03:52,799 ELEMENTS, BANG! 59 00:03:52,899 --> 00:03:54,634 A STAR IS BORN. 60 00:03:54,734 --> 00:03:59,072 DEAN: MODERN TELESCOPES HAVE ALLOWED US TO LOOK DEEP INSIDE THE NEBULA AND SEE NEWBORN 61 00:03:59,172 --> 00:04:00,940 STARS AND DISCS OF MATERIAL. 62 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,144 JAMES: THESE DISCS COULD BE FORMING PLANETS LIKE THOSE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 63 00:04:05,245 --> 00:04:10,016 IT COULD TAKE THOUSANDS OR EVEN MILLIONS OF YEARS FOR THESE PROTOPLANETARY DISCS TO TURN 64 00:04:10,116 --> 00:04:12,652 INTO SOLAR SYSTEMS, BUT WE'LL KEEP WATCHING. 65 00:04:12,752 --> 00:04:14,287 DEAN: AND YOU SHOULD TOO! 66 00:04:14,387 --> 00:04:17,957 LOOK FOR THE ORION NEBULA THIS WEEK AND PEER DEEP INTO SPACE. 67 00:04:18,057 --> 00:04:19,492 IT'S ALL THERE WHEN YOU 68 00:04:19,592 --> 00:04:23,592 BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!