Orion on the Prowl:  Winter heralds the coming of everyone's favorite constellation….Orion the Hunter.  What is it about him that attracts everyone's attention?  Well, his hourglass shape is probably the easiest star group to identify, after the Big Dipper.  Also, Orion contains some of the brighter stars in the sky.  To find him, locate his distinctive belt…three closely spaced 2^nd magnitude stars in a straight line.  North above the belt are two bright stars forming his shoulders, one of which is the 1^st magnitude star Betelgeuse, his left shoulder.  Below his belt to the south are two stars forming his feet, the brightest of which is 1^st magnitude Rigel, his right foot.   From his belt hangs a star-jeweled sword containing a famous stellar nursery…the Orion Nebula.

…….Introduction by Linda Krouse

M-42 . One of the finest sights in the sky, this nebula is easily visible to the naked eye as the "fuzzy" star in the middle of Orion's sword. It appears distinctly nebulous in binoculars or finderscopes, and shows an amazing amount of detail through the telescope. It is fully a degree in extent, with a wealth of fine curling wisps of nebulosity curving out from the brightest region surrounding the four relatively bright stars known as the Trapezium. On good nights with low power, I have even been able to see colors in this object. The region around the Trapezium appears as a cold steel blue color, wile the wispy regions further away can appear as a soft ruddy pink. Slightly separated from the main nebulosity, is M-43. This nebula is seen as a comma shaped cloud surrounding an eighth magnitude star just north of the Great Nebula. The more time you spend in this area, the more fine detail can be seen.

M-78 This is another fine area of nebulosity. It is about 6' in diameter, and surrounds two magnitude 10 stars. It is somewhat fan shaped, and appears comet-like at low powers. NGC's 2064, 2067, and 2071 lie in very close proximity to M-78, and are all nebulous regions as well.

NGC 1973-75-77 Dubbed the "Running Man" nebula by Jason Ware, this is a relatively bright region of nebulosity just north of the M-42 complex. It is large, about 15'x10 and surrounds several relatively bright stars. The "Running Man" is seen as the dark region between the areas of nebulosity, and often shows up in wide angle photographs of the Great Nebula. It would be observed more often if it weren't located so close to M-42, and greatly deserves more attention.

NGC 2022 This is a small, but relatively bright planetary nebula about 20" in diameter. It is slightly brighter at the center, and fades gradually to the edges.