Passage IV

A Birthplace of Stars

The winter night I attempted to see the famed Orion Nebula, I didn’t expect to succeed. I was an inexperienced astronomer peering through light-polluted skies. But I was eager to test my new telescope’s capabilities, and the nebula being one of the greatest sights in the night sky. So I bundled up, set out my scope to cool down (its mirrors must adjust to the cold air for optimal viewing), and scanned for the constellation Orion.

I had prepared for this night by studying constellations in my astronomy books. Orion appears as a hunter who, in some mythologies, is fighting Taurus the Bull, another constellation. [A] Even in bright skies, the telltale three stars marking Orion’s belt has been easy to spot. [B] I knew to follow the belt to Orion’s sword, a dim line of stars extending south. [C] The middle of these is actually not a star but a nebula, the Great Orion Nebula, a birthplace of stars. [D] When gravity causes the gas and dust to collapse, forming stars. The nebula, is home to thousands of young stars, is often called a galactic "nursery." (51)

I centered my scope where the nebula should be, inserted my lowest-powered eyepiece, and leaned in to look. I just made out a dull smudge. I couldn't get much improvement even when I adjusted the focuser. Coincidentally, I switched to a higher-powered eyepiece and tried a trick I'd read about for viewing faint objects: using averted vision.

The principle of averted vision states that the eye can often see distant objects better by looking to their one side rather than directly at them. (55) I focused my eye on an area beside the smudge, and, sure enough, my peripheral vision yielded far more of a better view of the nebula’s swirling clouds. I even saw the Trapezium star cluster, illuminated by four bright young stars nestled in the nebula like birds’ eggs in a nest. (59)