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How to Find the Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula, also known as M42, is a beautiful deep-sky object in the constellation Orion. It is visible with the naked eye, but even more lovely with a telescope or good binoculars.
Steps
- Locate the constellation Orion. Orion has a 'belt' of three bright stars, a vivid orange star in the upper left, a brilliant blue star in the lower right, and two dimmer stars in the upper right and lower left corner.
- Look halfway in between the middle star of the belt and the lower stars of the constellation (Salph, lower left and dimmer; Rigel, lower right and brighter, bluish tint). You should see a pinkish (or greenish) nebula.
Tips
- Try using binoculars or a telescope to look at the nebula.
- Wait for 20 minutes or so for your eyes get ready to see in the dark.
- Do this on a dark, clear night from October-March. In October it should be low in the east in the late evening, and in March it should be low in the west in the early evening.
Things You'll Need
- Binoculars or telescope
- Dark, clear sky
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