SPACETREK PRESENTS

A TERRAN'S GUIDE
TO THE ORION
NEBULA
Get ready to learn, be amazed, and explore!
 Welcome
TRAVELLERS!

Welcome to SpaceTrek – the Milky

Way’s first space tourism program!
As you may already be aware dear
passengers, this tour is focused on
the Orion Nebula and everything in,
around and about it. Since you are
the first generation to reach this
point in our galactic journey, let’s
brush up on some basics. Don’t
worry, we won’t bore you with our
science!
 NASA APOD:M78 WIDE FIELD
Image Courtesy of Fabian Neyer
29/12/2017

A short intro to nebulae

Until now, it’s like you’ve never thought too deeply into a
nebula – they sure are pretty but that seems to be all there
is to them, right? Wrong! Every star in our galaxy (and every
other galaxy) began as a nebula. They’re crucial steps in the
formation of stars and are occasionally both how a star’s
life begins and ends. Kind of like the circle of life, isn’t it?

But before we get carried away, let’s start with the basics.
What exactly is a nebula? Well, the official definition of a
nebula is:

'Any of numerous clouds of gas or dust in

interstellar space'
source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

In layman’s terms, a nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas

in the space between stars. It may not seem too fascinating
right now, but it’s our job to convince you otherwise. Settle
in and prepare for the galactic experience of a lifetime!
What's
with
the
name?

The first question many of us, including our SpaceTrek history team, have when it
comes to the Orion Nebula is: why Orion? Who is Orion? Let us share a story from
centuries, millennia before space travel was a concept.

The night sky is a constant thing, the gazing at the pinpricks of light above us a universal
experience across planets and galaxies. Just as we stare at the lights we cannot touch, so
did our forefathers. They conjured stories that we cannot begin to understand, of gods
and monsters and men, one such story detailing the fall of the great hunter, Orion. The
Greeks told his tale, his love for the goddess Artemis, and the furious Apollo’s plot to
destroy that love – causing Orion’s death by Artemis’ own arrow. In death, the revered
Orion was raised to the sky by Zeus, immortalised in our stars to this day and an aid to lost
travellers for millennia to come.

The centre of Orion’s Sword, coined Saif Al-Jabbar (Sword of the

Giant, medieval Muslim astronomy) is the home of the Orion Nebula,
our destination. In a sense we continue today along a tour that began
at this heavenly body’s first sighting, almost 38 000 years ago, and we
walk along a path with all the cultures that ever admired it.

We hope this has your attention! We still have a

ways to go until we reach the Orion so let’s take
this time to learn more about the nebulae.
WHAT DO NEBULAE
LOOK LIKE?

Nebulae are a mixed bag when it comes to appearance. They

can range in size, colour, and shape, forming stunning spirals,
butterflies, roses, cosmic eyes and more. The Messier 78 nebula
(also part of the Orion System) , a few light years past our
destination, has a radius of 5 light years – less than half the size
of the Orion Nebula which has a radius of 12 light years. To us
humans, these are incomprehensibly large – until last century
we couldn’t even fathom travelling one light year, let alone
travelling this far from our system. And yet these distances and
nebulae pale in comparison to the largest in our galactic
neighbourhood; the Tarantula Nebula at a whopping radius of
931 light years! And that doesn’t even come close to scraping
the surface of the larger known nebulae.

MORE ON
NEBULAE
To understand the appearance of nebulae, we
need to answer the question of how they form.
The life cycles of stars and nebulae are closely
Supernova
intertwined. Like we mentioned earlier, all stars The larger star, once it runs out of
begin in stellar nurseries. elements to undergo fusion, will explode
01
Protostars
When the gas and dust in the nebula collapse
under gravity into a dense ball, a protostar is
born in a process called accretion.
02
Sun-like star or Red
Supergiant
This protostar reaches 10 million Kelvin, at which
point it begins hydrogen fusion. At this stage it can
either be a red giant like our sun or a red supergiant,
leading to two different cycles.
03
Planetary Nebula
The smaller, Sun-like red giant will run
out of elements to undergo fusion, at
which point it expels its outer shell of
gas and becomes a planetary nebula
with a core at its centre
or
outwards due to the inward force of
gravity and outwards force from heat in
the core. This results in a supernova, a
massive stellar explosion!
04
White dwarf, neutron
star or black hole?
Planetary nebulae will eventually expel all of the
gas and dust around them, leaving a glowing
white dwarf behind.
On the other hand, the supernova's explosion
can cause the star's core to collapse inward,
creating an extremely dense neutron star which,
if it accretes enough material from a companion
star, can collapse into a black hole.
05
The End.
 BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

TYPES OF NEBULAE
The individual features of nebulae are determined by
their type. There are five main types of nebulae, all with
their unique characteristics that enable us to understand
their formation, their composition and, as a result, their
appearance.

NEXT PAGE FOR MORE INFO

 Emission nebulae: these nebulae are clouds of high temperature gas. The atoms of
gas emit radiation, causing the nebula to glow. These are mostly red because – you
guessed it! – there is an abundance of hydrogen. They may also have blue and green
due to the presence of other atoms. Some famous emission nebulae are the Carina
Nebula, the Eagle Nebula, and the Heart Nebula.

Reflection nebulae: Unlike the emission nebulae, reflection nebulae reflect nearby
star light rather than emit their own radiation. They are often near or in sites of star
formation and mostly blue (since blue light scatters more. This is also why the sky is
blue, if you want to impress any of your earthsider friends!) One such nebula is
Messier 78, which you can see from here if you input the first set of coordinates into
your binoculars! As you can see, at the centre where stars are forming, the nebula is
blue whilst the hydrogen rich regions around it are red. Isn’t it spectacular?

Planetary Nebulae: This is a subcategory of emission nebulae that consists of a shell

of ionised gas, continuously expanding and glowing with the core of a red giant at
its centre. The core releases radiation and stellar wind which continues to push the
gases outward, creating a planetary ‘ring’ of sorts. So, although the nebula itself is
not related to planets in any way, its appearance gave it the name. One such nebula
is the Helix nebula.

Dark nebulae: As ominous as they may sound, dark nebulae are actually quite
unthreatening! These nebulae are interstellar clouds containing a higher
concentration of dust, rather than gas. This dust allows them to absorb all incident
light, making them almost opaque on the visible spectrum. These nebulae have a
spectacular effect when silhouetted a brighter emission nebula, such as the
Horsehead nebula in the Orion system, which you may remember from a few weeks
back in our trip.

Supernova remnants: A supernova remnant (SNR) is a diffuse(emission and

reflection), expanding nebula that is a result of a supernova explosion. To refresh
your memories, a supernova is a powerful stellar explosion. Think powerful enough
to entirely boil the side of earth facing the sun if our sun were much bigger and were
to explode. Terrifying, isn’t it? Beyond just looking pretty, these SNRs are
instrumental in understanding our galaxy and even other galaxies! They distribute
heavy elements through the galaxy, accelerate cosmic rays and heat up the
interstellar medium (aka the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the
stars). One famous SNR is the crab nebula.
 THAT WAS A BIT
OF AN INFO DUMP!

We hope we haven’t lost any of you along the way. SpaceTrek is a firm believer in
understanding the universe, just as much as appreciating its beauty. After all, as
Rachel Carson once said,

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the

wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less
taste we shall have for destruction.”
Souce: Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1999)

It is of utmost importance that we treat the universe with more care than we did
with Earth. Rendering the ideal planet uninhabitable is what pushed us into the
Golden Age of Discovery – there is an irrefutable positive to this, but it urges the
question; at what cost? Something to ponder on, dear travellers, as we continue
our tour.
Map detailing the locations of major stars and
nebulae in the Orion System
Source: http://www.peoplesguidetothecosmos.com/constellations/orion.htm
 DESTINATION IS RIGHT UP AHEAD:

Orion Nebula
The

Perfect timing! If you’ll look up from your pamphlets in 3…2…1…now! Here it

is, the Orion Nebula! Located at the centre of Orion’s sword, this diffuse
(meaning emission and reflection nebula) stellar nursery is the closest
massive star formation ground to earth. This region has a concentration of
young stars, just like the Messier 78 nebula to the top left of your field of
view.
 Observing Orion
The Orion’s signature colours come from the nebula’s composition combined with reflected
light from stars within and around the nebula. Elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, silicon,
neon, carbon, and nitrogen all contribute to the array of different colours visible to us. There are
several interesting molecules found in the nebula too, such as water, carbon monoxide,
formaldehyde, methanol, and hydrogen cyanide. We won’t be stepping out of this spaceship
anytime soon, that’s for sure!

The difference in types of nebulae is most evident when we compare Orion and Messier 78.
Messier 78 is a reflection nebula, meaning light from a star is scattered/reflected off a nearby
dust cloud. This reflect light is slightly bluer than the incident light, giving reflection nebulae a
cooler blue colour when compared to the rich reds of the Orion.

Although we’re too far in to see the full constellation, our interactive map will update you on our
position – currently we’re right at the centre, just below the nebula and in the neighbourhood of
Nair Al Saif – more commonly known as Iota. From here, if you input the second set of
coordinates into your binoculars, you can get a stunning view the famous Trapezium Cluster.
NOTABLE
CLUSTERS
First spotted by Galileo Galilei, only three of
the stars were spotted but not the
surrounding nebula. Christian Huygens then
discovered the three again, independently
with the fourth discovered by French
astronomer Jean Picard. That’s 56 years to
discover all four! Now, if we enter the second
set of coordinates into the telescopes, we
see the Messier 78 nebula. A small but bright
member of the Orion B molecular cloud
complex, it is one of Charles Messier’s 100
objects in the Messier Catalogue, “one of the
most influential catalogues of Deep Space
Objects,” (Plotner, 2019). Unlike Orion, there
are no notable clusters in Messier 78. That
seems to be an accolade reserved for the
heroic Orion Nebula!
 The Hubble Space
Telescope

In 2006, the Hubble Space Telescope completed 105 Hubble orbits (96
minutes each) on a mission to produce “one of the most detailed
astronomical images” of the Orion Nebula(which we've included in this
guide). Little did they know, one day us humans would be able to visit and
see the nebula for ourselves, hundreds of years in the future.

This mission was instrumental as, “the wealth of information in this Hubble
survey [of the Orion Nebula], including seeing stars of all sizes in one
dense place, provides an extraordinary opportunity to study star
formation.”

Source: Massimo Robberto, European Space Agency (2006)

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Hubble_panoramic_view_of_Orion_Nebula
 THANK YOU FOR JOINING
US
This concludes the informational segment of our tour! We at SpaceTrek hope you
enjoyed your trip, learnt something new and enjoyed this once in a lifetime
experience. Take the rest of this journey to enjoy the refreshments and stunning
sights just outside your window and remember, stay curious.
KERTECAPS
 References
Plotner, T., 2019. Messier 78 - the NGC 2068 Reflection Nebula - Universe Today.
[online] Universe Today. Available at:
<https://www.universetoday.com/39296/messier-78-1/> [Accessed 23 July 2021].

Messier Objects. 2021. Trapezium Cluster | Messier Objects. [online] Available at:
<https://www.messier-objects.com/trapezium-cluster/> [Accessed 23 July 2021].

En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Orion (constellation) - Wikipedia. [online] Available at:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)#History_and_mythology>
[Accessed 23 July 2021].

European Space Agency. 2006. Hubble panoramic view of Orion Nebula.[online]

Available at:
<https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Hubble_panoramic_view_of_
Orion_Nebula> [Accessed 25 July 2021].

Nemiroff, R. and Bonnel, J., 2017. APOD: 2017 December 29 - M78 Wide Field. [online]
Apod.nasa.gov. Available at: <https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171229.html> [Accessed
25 July 2021].

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Nebula. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary.[online]

Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nebula [Accessed 26 July,
2021].

Shubinsky, R., 2019. Inside the Orion Nebula. [online] Astronomy.com. Available at:
<https://astronomy.com/magazine/2019/10/inside-the-orion-nebula> [Accessed 26
July 2021].

Seasky.org. 2016. Nebulae - Celestial Objects on Sea and Sky. [online] Available at:
<http://www.seasky.org/celestial-
objects/nebulae.html#:~:text=Nebulae%20have%20been%20divided%20into,planetar
y%20nebulae%2C%20and%20supernova%20remnants.> [Accessed 26 July 2021].

Esteban, C., Peimbert, M., Torres-Peimbert, S. and Escalante, V., 1998. Chemical
composition of the Orion nebula derived from echelle spectrophotometry. Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 295(2), pp.401-422.