1 00:00:20,854 --> 00:00:24,124 THE ORION NEBULA DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS. 2 00:00:24,224 --> 00:00:27,193 I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. 3 00:00:27,293 --> 00:00:30,830 JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM 4 00:00:30,930 --> 00:00:32,432 IN GAINESVILLE FLORIDA. 5 00:00:32,532 --> 00:00:35,001 WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY. 6 00:00:35,101 --> 00:00:37,670 DEAN: ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT WINTER IS THAT IT ALWAYS 7 00:00:37,771 --> 00:00:41,074 BRINGS THE RETURN OF ONE OF THE TRUE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE. 8 00:00:41,174 --> 00:00:42,742 JAMES: THAT WOULDN'T BE SNOW, WOULD IT? 9 00:00:42,842 --> 00:00:44,277 DEAN: NOT QUITE, JAMES! 10 00:00:44,377 --> 00:00:47,580 I'M THINKING OF SOMETHING MUCH FARTHER AWAY, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,849 IS VERY EASY TO SPOT IN THE WINTER SKY. 12 00:00:49,949 --> 00:00:50,917 JAMES: SWEET! 13 00:00:51,017 --> 00:00:52,285 LET'S SHOW YOU! 14 00:00:52,385 --> 00:00:54,821 DEAN: WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET UP FOR ANY NIGHT THIS 15 00:00:54,921 --> 00:00:56,356 WEEK AT ABOUT 7:30PM. 16 00:00:56,456 --> 00:00:59,959 IN THE SOUTHEAST YOU'LL SEE WHAT HAS TO BE THE SECOND 17 00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:04,130 MOST FAMILIAR PATTERN OF STARS (AFTER THE BIG DIPPER THAT IS), A PATTERN 18 00:01:04,230 --> 00:01:07,967 WHICH IS LOADED WITH BRIGHT STARS, KNOWN AS ORION THE HUNTER. 19 00:01:08,068 --> 00:01:12,138 JAMES: TO FIND HIM LOOK FOR HIS BELT OF THREE STARS IN A ROW. 20 00:01:12,238 --> 00:01:15,608 THESE ARE THE STARS, ALNITAK, ALNILAM AND MINTAKA. 21 00:01:15,708 --> 00:01:19,012 DEAN: ABOVE THESE 3 BELT STARS YOU'LL SEE 2 BRILLIANT 22 00:01:19,112 --> 00:01:23,216 STARS MARKING ORION'S SHODERS, BETELGEUSE AND BELLATRIX. 23 00:01:23,316 --> 00:01:26,686 AND BELOW HIS BELT, 2 OTHER STARS MARK HIS ANKLE AND 24 00:01:26,786 --> 00:01:28,755 HIS KNEE, RIGEL AND SAIPH. 25 00:01:28,855 --> 00:01:32,859 JAMES: WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT ORION'S BRIGHT STARS, BUT FOR THIS EPISODE, 26 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,162 WE WOULD LIKE TO ZERO-IN ON ONE OF ORION'S MORE SUBTLE OBJECTS. 27 00:01:36,262 --> 00:01:40,033 LOOK BELOW THE BELT FOR 3 MUCH DIMMER STARS, THE 28 00:01:40,133 --> 00:01:42,802 STARS WE CALL THE SWORD OF ORION. 29 00:01:42,902 --> 00:01:46,573 THERE WE WILL FIND ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME WONDERS OF OUR NEARBY UNIVERSE. 30 00:01:46,673 --> 00:01:51,811 DEAN: IF YOU LOOK VERY CAREFLY AT THESE 3 STARS IN ORION'S SWORD, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT 31 00:01:51,911 --> 00:01:56,349 NO MATTER HOW SHARP YOUR EYESIGHT, THE MIDDLE STAR ALWAYS SEEMS TO LOOK FUZZY 32 00:01:56,449 --> 00:02:01,121 OR SLIGHTLY OUT OF FOCUS AND THAT'S BECAUSE THIS STAR IS NOT A STAR AT ALL, BUT 33 00:02:01,221 --> 00:02:02,689 SOMETHING WE CALL A NEBULA. 34 00:02:02,789 --> 00:02:07,260 JAMES: A NEBULA IS A COSMIC CLOUD OF GAS AND DUST AND THE GREAT NEBULA 35 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,730 OF ORION IS ACTUALLY A STELLAR RECYCLING CENTER. 36 00:02:10,830 --> 00:02:14,134 WITHIN THIS NEBULA, BRAND NEW STARS HAVE BEEN, AND ARE STILL BEING 37 00:02:14,234 --> 00:02:15,902 BORN FROM THE SURROUNDING CLOUD. 38 00:02:16,002 --> 00:02:19,906 DEAN: IN FACT, YOU CAN SEE THE ORION NEBA USING EVEN THE CHEAPEST PAIR 39 00:02:20,006 --> 00:02:21,141 OF BINOCULARS. 40 00:02:21,241 --> 00:02:24,711 THIS CLOUD IS ILLUMINATED BY 4 RECENTLY-BORN STARS 41 00:02:24,811 --> 00:02:29,115 ARRANGED IN THE SHAPE OF A BASEBALL DIAMOND CALLED THE TRAPEZIUM, AND THESE 42 00:02:29,215 --> 00:02:32,152 4 STARS CAN ACTUALLY BE SEEN WITH A SMALL TELESCOPE. 43 00:02:32,252 --> 00:02:36,723 NOW, ALTHOUGH THE ORION NEBA LOOKSTINY, IN REALITY, ITS SIZE 44 00:02:36,823 --> 00:02:38,658 IS MIND-BOGGLING. 45 00:02:38,758 --> 00:02:43,663 DEAN: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THERE IS ENOUGH MATERIAL IN THIS NEBULA TO PRODUCE OVER 10 THOUSAND 46 00:02:43,763 --> 00:02:45,698 STARS THE SIZE OF OUR SUN! 47 00:02:45,798 --> 00:02:48,768 BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE IMPRESSED, CHECK OUT THE WIDTH OF 48 00:02:48,868 --> 00:02:50,069 THE ORION NEBULA. 49 00:02:50,170 --> 00:02:53,540 AS NEBULAE GO, THIS ONE IS GIGANTIC; SPANNING OVER 50 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:55,308 30 LIGHT YEARS IN DIAMETER. 51 00:02:55,408 --> 00:02:58,511 JAMES: JUST TO GIVE YOU A REFRESHER, A LIGHT YEAR 52 00:02:58,611 --> 00:03:02,282 IS NOT A MEASURE OF TIME, BUT A MEASURE OF DISTANCE. 53 00:03:02,382 --> 00:03:05,818 SPACE IS SO BIG AND THE STARS ARE SO FAR AWAY, THAT WE ASTRONOMERS 54 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,422 DON'T MEASURE THE DISTANCES BETWEEN THE STARS IN TERRESTRIAL UNITS LIKE 55 00:03:09,522 --> 00:03:10,924 MILES OR KILOMETERS. 56 00:03:11,024 --> 00:03:12,659 WE USE THE TERM LIGHT YEAR. 57 00:03:12,759 --> 00:03:18,731 DEAN: LIGHT TRAVELS AT A WHOPPING 186,000 MILES PER SECOND, WHICH IS ALMOST 58 00:03:18,831 --> 00:03:21,501 670 MILLION MILES PER HOUR! 59 00:03:21,601 --> 00:03:25,772 THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, 60 00:03:25,872 --> 00:03:28,975 YOU COULD MAKE THE TRIP IN 1.3 SECONDS. 61 00:03:29,075 --> 00:03:32,212 IF YOU TRAVELED FROM THE EARTH TO THE SUN AT THAT SAME SPEED, YOU COULD 62 00:03:32,312 --> 00:03:34,981 MAKE THE TRIP IN A LITTLE OVER 8 MINUTES. 63 00:03:35,081 --> 00:03:38,484 AND IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL FROM EARTH TO PLUTO AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT, 64 00:03:38,585 --> 00:03:41,221 YOU COULD MAKE THE TRIP IN ABOUT 5 HOURS. 65 00:03:41,321 --> 00:03:45,625 JAMES: SO WE'RE GOING TO FLY THROUGH THE ORION NEBULA AND TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT 66 00:03:45,725 --> 00:03:46,826 THIS STAR FACTORY. 67 00:03:46,926 --> 00:03:49,529 DEAN: THE FORCE OF GRAVITY IS BRINGING CLOUDS OF 68 00:03:49,629 --> 00:03:53,566 GASES TOGETHER AND WHEN THEY BEGIN FUSING ELEMENTS, BANG! 69 00:03:53,666 --> 00:03:55,368 A STAR IS BORN. 70 00:03:55,468 --> 00:03:58,972 JAMES: MODERN TELESCOPES HAVE ALLOWED US TO LOOK DEEP INSIDE THE NEBA 71 00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:01,608 AND SEE NEWBORN STARS AND DISCS OF MATERIAL. 72 00:04:01,708 --> 00:04:04,577 DEAN: THESE DISCS COULD BE FORMING PLANETS LIKE THOSE 73 00:04:04,677 --> 00:04:06,079 IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 74 00:04:06,179 --> 00:04:09,282 JAMES: IT COULD TAKE THOUSANDS OR EVEN MILLIONS OF YEARS FOR THESE 75 00:04:09,382 --> 00:04:13,453 PROTOPLANETARY DISCS TO TURN INTO SOLAR SYSTEMS, BUT WE'LL KEEP WATCHING. 76 00:04:13,553 --> 00:04:15,188 DEAN: AND YOU SHOULD TOO! 77 00:04:15,288 --> 00:04:19,592 LOOK FOR THE ORION NEBULA THIS WEEK AND PEER DEEP INTO SPACE. 78 00:04:19,692 --> 00:04:23,692 IT'S ALL THERE WHEN YOU BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!