DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.

I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI
OBSERVATORY.

JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE
KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE

FLORIDA.

WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND
THE SKY.

DEAN: ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT WINTER
IS THAT IT ALWAYS BRINGS THE RETURN OF ONE

OF THE TRUE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE.

JAMES: THAT WOULDN'T BE SNOW, WOULD IT?

DEAN: NOT QUITE, JAMES!

BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS VERY EASY TO SPOT
IN THE WINTER SKY.

AN OBJECT IN DEEP SPACE!

JAMES: SWEET!

LET'S SHOW YOU!

DEAN: WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET UP FOR ANY NIGHT
THIS WEEK AT ABOUT 7:30PM.

IN THE SOUTHEAST YOU'LL SEE WHAT HAS TO BE
THE SECOND MOST FAMILIAR PATTERN OF STARS

(AFTER THE BIG DIPPER THAT IS), A PATTERN
WHICH IS LOADED WITH BRIGHT STARS, KNOWN AS

ORION THE HUNTER.

JAMES: TO FIND HIM LOOK FOR HIS BELT OF THREE
STARS IN A ROW.

THESE ARE THE STARS, ALNITAK, ALNILAM AND
MINTAKA.

DEAN: ABOVE THESE 3 BELT STARS YOU'LL SEE
2 BRILLIANT STARS MARKING ORION'S SHOULDERS,

BETELGEUSE AND BELLATRIX.

AND BELOW HIS BELT, 2 OTHER STARS MARK HIS
ANKLE AND HIS KNEE, RIGEL AND SAIPH.

JAMES: WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT ORION'S BRIGHT
STARS, BUT FOR THIS EPISODE, WE WOULD LIKE

TO ZERO-IN ON ONE OF ORION'S MORE SUBTLE OBJECTS.

LOOK BELOW THE BELT STARS FOR 3 MUCH DIMMER
STARS, THE STARS WE CALL THE SWORD OF ORION.

THERE WE WILL FIND ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME
WONDERS OF OUR NEARBY UNIVERSE.

DEAN: IF YOU LOOK VERY CAREFULLY AT THESE
3 STARS YOU'LL NOTICE THAT NO MATTER HOW SHARP

YOUR EYESIGHT, THE MIDDLE STAR ALWAYS SEEMS
TO LOOK FUZZY OR SLIGHTLY OUT OF FOCUS AND

THAT'S BECAUSE THIS STAR IS NOT A STAR AT
ALL, BUT SOMETHING WE CALL A NEBULA.

JAMES: A NEBULA IS A COSMIC CLOUD OF GAS AND
DUST AND THE GREAT NEBULA OF ORION IS ACTUALLY

A STELLAR RECYCLING CENTER.

WITHIN THIS NEBULA, BRAND NEW STARS HAVE BEEN,
AND ARE STILL BEING BORN FROM THE SURROUNDING

CLOUD.

DEAN: IN FACT, YOU CAN SEE THIS NEBULA USING
EVEN THE CHEAPEST PAIR OF BINOCULARS.

THIS CLOUD IS ILLUMINATED BY 4 RECENTLY-BORN
STARS ARRANGED IN THE SHAPE OF A BASEBALL

DIAMOND CALLED THE TRAPEZIUM, AND THESE 4
STARS CAN ACTUALLY BE SEEN WITH A SMALL TELESCOPE.

NOW, ALTHOUGH THE ORION NEBULA LOOKS TINY,
IN REALITY, ITS SIZE IS MIND-BOGGLING.

DEAN: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THERE IS ENOUGH MATERIAL
IN THIS NEBULA TO PRODUCE OVER 10 THOUSAND

STARS THE SIZE OF OUR SUN!

BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE IMPRESSED, CHECK
OUT THE WIDTH OF THE ORION NEBULA.

AS NEBULAE GO, THIS ONE IS GIGANTIC; SPANNING
OVER 30 LIGHT YEARS IN DIAMETER.

JAMES: JUST TO GIVE YOU A REFRESHER, A LIGHT
YEAR IS NOT A MEASURE OF TIME, BUT A MEASURE

OF DISTANCE.

SPACE IS SO BIG AND THE STARS ARE SO FAR AWAY,
THAT WE ASTRONOMERS DON'T MEASURE THE DISTANCES

BETWEEN THE STARS IN TERRESTRIAL UNITS LIKE
MILES OR KILOMETERS.

WE USE THE TERM LIGHT YEAR.

DEAN: LIGHT TRAVELS AT A WHOPPING 186,000
MILES PER SECOND, WHICH IS ALMOST 670 MILLION

MILES PER HOUR!

THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL AT THE
SPEED OF LIGHT FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON,

YOU COULD MAKE THE TRIP IN A LITTLE LESS THAN
TWO SECONDS.

IF YOU TRAVELED FROM THE EARTH TO THE SUN
AT THAT SAME SPEED, YOU COULD MAKE THE TRIP

IN A LITTLE OVER 8 MINUTES.

AND IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL FROM EARTH TO PLUTO
AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT, YOU COULD MAKE THE

TRIP IN A LITTLE OVER 5 HOURS.

DEAN: SO WE'RE GOING TO FLY YOU THROUGH THE
ORION NEBULA AND TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS

STAR FACTORY.

JAMES: THE FORCE OF GRAVITY IS BRINGING CLOUDS
OF GASES TOGETHER AND WHEN THEY BEGIN FUSING

ELEMENTS, BANG!

A STAR IS BORN.

DEAN: MODERN TELESCOPES HAVE ALLOWED US TO
LOOK DEEP INSIDE THE NEBULA AND SEE NEWBORN

STARS AND DISCS OF MATERIAL.

JAMES: THESE DISCS COULD BE FORMING PLANETS
LIKE THOSE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

IT COULD TAKE THOUSANDS OR EVEN MILLIONS OF
YEARS FOR THESE PROTOPLANETARY DISCS TO TURN

INTO SOLAR SYSTEMS, BUT WE'LL KEEP WATCHING.

DEAN: AND YOU SHOULD TOO!

LOOK FOR THE ORION NEBULA THIS WEEK AND PEER
DEEP INTO SPACE.

IT'S ALL THERE WHEN YOU

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!