Welcome to the Astro Minute, where we’re exploring the universe sixty seconds at a time. I’m Lauren Smyth, and today we’re hunting for the Hunter’s nebula.

In September in the early morning hours, a famous hunter begins to rise in the eastern skies, eventually becoming a prominent figure on cold winter nights. Welcome Orion the Hunter, with great stars on his shoulders and feet, and a three-starred belt holding a three-starred sword. The middle jewel of the sword is not a star at all, but the magnificent Orion Nebula, one of only two naked-eye stellar nurseries in the northern hemisphere. Over thirteen hundred light-years away, and spanning twenty-four light-years across, its hundreds of stars are revealing the mysteries of stellar and planetary system formation to modern astronomers. 

Stayed tuned - Orion carries many other hidden gems across the sky!

That’s your Astro Minute!