Your Orion To My Osiris
made by aniconjournal
As a nerd, I should just beat the bush, shouldn't I? Still, I would like to make an intro for this entry.
When I was babysitting the boy yesterday, I watched him play the Counter-Strike games and was bored as hell.
Suddenly I spotted that one of his weapons was called "Orion M24" and got freaked-out immediately.
It is because there is no M24 but M42 in constellation Orion.
(M24 is in constellation Sagittarius if you wonder)
Then I had my head back and realized it was just a name of a rifle.
Anyway, what the divine picture below shows are not the jewels on the hunter's sword but the ride and the torch of the gorgeous Orion --
The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard33, IC434, centre) and
The Flame Nebula (NGC2024, left)
The Horsehead Nebula actually is a dark nebula (Barnard33) which obscures the light from the emission nebula (IC434) behind it.
The Flame Nebula is another emission nebula.
The "flame" effect is created by the extra dark gas and dust lie in front of the bright part.
Overview of Orion
In the sky, the three prominent bluish stars lining on a row in the centre the picture is well-known as the Orion's Belt (below).
Orion Correlation Theory
On the Earth, in Giza, Eygpt, the Pyramid of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure are aligned to form a mirror image of the stellar pattern.
Menkaure Pyramid was the smallest and located slightly off centre corresponding to the constellation.
Ancient eygptians regarded Orion as the God Osiris, whom I am so sure to mention again in later post along with his son Horus, and his brother Seth.
Ancient eygptians even matched Nile river as the Milky Way!
The two diagonal corner pyramids are missing as the pyramid complex was not finished, otherwise it would be perfect.
Orion is one of the most visable constellation in a light-polluted city sky, and also the most recognizable constellation in a starry night, I guess.
Even I could distinguish the Orien's belt when I was young.
The Running Man Nebula (NGC1973, NGC1975, NGC1977, left),
The Orion Nebula (M42, right) and
De Mairan's Nebula (M43, below the centre as a part of the M42)
The Running Man Nebula is divided into three NGC objects by its darker regions.
M42 is also designated as NGC1676.
This photo shows you how dictatorial its beauty is!
Orion Complex
It is almost the overview of the Orion Complex, which is a large nebula spreads across the Orion's Belt to his sword.
As you can see, there are several famous nebulae lying within the Complex:
The Orion Nebula, De Mairan's Nebula and The Running Man Nebula are on the left-handed side;
The Horsehead Nebula and the Flame Nebula on the right;
The mass of redness in the background is part of the Barnard's Loop.
The bright star just above the Flame Nebula forms the Orion's belt with the other two brightest ones on the top left corner of the picture.
To clarify, I am not a babysitter.
Supposedly I am his tutor to teach him homework.
Except he is hyperactive and never listen to anyone but keeps burying himself in computer games or keeps running around his house, so I feel more like his nanny than a tutor.
Anyway, when I suggested him to read Sherlock Holmes with me the following day (i.e. today) he showed interest. Maybe he could be taught. Maybe.