A New Series Is Coming Up! Orion!
I’m excited to announce that I’m writing a new series of articles about the constellation of Orion! Not only is Orion my favorite constellation, but it has so much cool stuff in its area of the sky that one could talk about it for months. I’m not sure I’ll be talking about it THAT long, because…
Backgrouns: Star cluster NGC 601, Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand
…the monkeys’ attention span isn’t that long. But we’ll be talking about everything from stars to all different kinds of nebulae and more!
It's getting a little late in the year to see Orion for much longer, I'll admit, but it's never too late to learn more, and this way you'll be prepared for when it's in its glory in the fall and winter. Each week I'm going to talk about one thing that makes Orion so cool. And even when Orion sinks below the horizon for the summer, you can still see examples of the things I will be discussing elsewhere in the sky. I'll be sure to mention them so you can look them up.
Another reason I'm excited to do this series is that I will be using my own photographs whenever possible. Despite a bunch of light pollution (the bane of any astronomer's existence) I have captured some pretty good photos of some of the nebulae in Orion. My astrophotography skills can use some improvement, but while I work on that, I'd love for you to come along for the ride.
Very faint image of Orion—this photo captures some of the colors of the various stars, depending on the resolution.
As a reminder, independent astronomy can be expensive, and sources of funding are harder to come by now more than ever. At the same time, science communication is more important now than ever. Understanding the universe you live in as well as the methods scientists use to find answers and solve problems isn't just fun and interesting. It helps you made better, more informed decisions about things like climate change, public policy, and more. I've been discouraged for some time about creating a platform for science communication because it's hard to put in the time needed to make good, accurate, reliable content when there is no income there. Two of the sources I used to be able to depend on for small but steady amounts of income have shut down over the past couple years, making things more difficult. Any support you can throw my way would be much appreciated--my Patreon offers early access to articles, exclusive content like my astrophotography and space news, early notice of sock monkeys available for adoption, monthly Q&As, and much more! You can contribute at levels of $2, $5, and $10. Your support means everything!
