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Wednesday, February 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SAGEpGROUSE:p
Volunteers help
biologist collect data
StarspoverpSisters
By Ron Thorkildson
Correspondent
Ask someone to name
a prominent constellation
of winter and the response
you’ll probably get is Orion.
This will often be the case
even if the person doesn’t
know and is totally guess-
ing. It works because, after
the Big Dipper, the mighty
celestial hunter’s name is so
well known.
Orion is, of course, the
right answer.
This stunning stellar
grouping rides high in the
southern sky during the eve-
ning hours of this last full
month of winter, and can’t
be missed by anyone who
glances up into a clear sky.
The focus of this article,
however, isn’t about the con-
stellation itself, but instead
features a very special
object that resides within its
borders.
Orion’s belt is marked by
three evenly spaced, rela-
tively bright stars lying in a
nearly straight line. Beneath
the Hunter’s belt are three
vertically oriented, dimmer
stars spaced closer together.
They denote his sword. Upon
closer naked-eye inspection,
the middle “star” looks kind
of fuzzy, and is, in fact, not a
star at all.
The Orion Great Nebula,
commonly referred to as
M42, is the brightest and
closest diffuse nebula in the
entire sky. A diffuse nebula
is an interstellar cloud of gas
and dust where new stars
are believed to form based
on strong observational
evidence.
Astronomers estimate
that M42 lies at a distance
of 1,344 light-years, is 24
light-years across, and con-
tains enough material to form
about 2,000 sun-size stars.
It is one of the most scru-
tinized and photographed
objects in the night sky, and
this intense examination has
revealed much about the pro-
cess of how star and plan-
etary systems are brought
into existence from collaps-
ing clouds of gas and dust.
In fact, protoplanetary disks,
brown dwarfs, and the photo-
ionizing effects of massive
nearby stars have been mea-
sured within this object.
As a favorite target of
star-gazers worldwide,
no praise is too high for
the Great Orion Nebula.
Upon seeing it for first time
through a telescope, observ-
ers often use superlatives
like “gorgeous,” “incred-
ible,” “magnificent,” and
“spectacular,” to describe
what they see. Almost any
backyard telescope will pro-
duce an impressive image
of this glowing cloud of gas
and dust. Use low power to
get the widest possible field
of view.
For those who have never
before seen an asteroid of
our solar system, that oppor-
tunity presents itself early in
February. Although Vesta is
only about half the size of the
largest member of the aster-
oid belt, dwarf planet Ceres,
it is four times brighter,
owing to its high reflectiv-
ity. From February 3 through
February 5 is an ideal time to
attempt the search because
Vesta will be the brightest
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Continued from page 16
PHOTO COURTESY NASA/ESA’S HST
The Great Orion Nebula is the brightest and nearest region of active star
formation.
“star” between two brighter
stars in the constellation of
Gemini.
Kappa Geminorum, at
3.6 magnitude, lies about
five degrees south of Pollux,
Gemini’s brightest star. Two
degrees north of Kappa is
the 5.3 magnitude star 76
Geminorum. Dimmer Vesta
will pass between these stars,
making it relatively easy to
identify through a pair of
binoculars.
The best planetary display
this month is still in the west-
ern sky, when on February 1
Venus, Mars and a waxing
crescent moon will line up,
putting on a grand spectacle.
Venus will attain its great-
est brilliance on February
16/17. Rising half an hour
before midnight on February
1, Jupiter is now officially an
evening planet.
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On the morning stage,
early in the month, Saturn
comes up in the southeast just
before 4 a.m., while Mercury
pops into view a mere five
degrees above the eastern
horizon half an hour before
sunrise. Optical aid may be
necessary to coax it out of
the brightening dawn. For
the remainder of the month
the swift planet quickly falls
back toward the sun.
The surface of the moon
gradually becomes more
illuminated during the first
10 days of February, becom-
ing the Full Snow Moon on
February 10. Thereafter, the
moon is on the wane, finally
going dark at new moon on
February 26.
and learn how to survey for
new leks. To reach their leks
the volunteers drive primitive
ranch and high desert roads
through sagebrush habitat
with GPS units, maps, spot-
ting scopes, and binocu-
lars. And something to think
about: With the snow load
this year, there is the distinct
possibility access to the leks
will be difficult at best, and
requiring four-wheel drive.
The volunteers are
assigned leks that agency
personnel would not be able
to count during the short
breeding season. A great
result of this project is that
professional wildlife biolo-
gists find the accuracy of the
data gathered by the volun-
teers matches the accuracy
gathered by agency staff.
Therefore the count informa-
tion will be used to help esti-
mate the breeding population
and add it to the sage grouse
database used by federal and
state biologists, data sorely
needed for management
decisions.
To sign up for the Adopt-
a-Lek program, contact your
local ODFW office, or con-
tact Lee Foster, ODFW coor-
dinator of the Adopt-a-Lek
project by phone: 541-573-
6582, or email: lee.j.foster@
state.or.us.
Kim Hapke, Naturopath
541-549-3172 • 1-800-752-8540 • 704 W. Hood Ave.
971-409-0908
A member of Fullhart Insurance Agency, Inc.
Sisters Art Works Building
152 E. Main Ave. / 541-549-8771
The Hair Caché Jeff, Theresa,
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