And another clue, the Sun is in the middle of it...

I don't think the solar system counts, as a deep space object

No it doesn't.


Have you ever wondered why the Sun is much older than just about every star visible to the naked eye?

Another clue, it's about 40 -80 million years old.... (Age uncertain)

Allow me to carry your question to this page.

This is getting intersting. The heliopause or helosphere? No, those are solar system related. I don't recall the sun being the center of anything but the solar system, and that was a battle.

We are no longer in a spiral arm, right?

Now that you mention it, it has lost some of its color and now appears more pale than before.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

George,

The Sun is near the middle of this DSO, but is not part of it.

You could think about NGC 206 and see where it gets you...

I think a few hints are needed...

NGC206 in Andromeda, is a major star forming region containing a lot of OB stars.

If you look at the night sky where are the OB stars in our local region?

The Orion Arm?

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- Learn a lot teaching others.

I was thinking where are Orion OB1, Perseus OB2, OB3, Cass-Tau OB1, Sco-Cen (upper, lower) etc etc

The answer is at about 500 - 600 ly distance and every star is less than 40 My old. So Orion's belt, Antares, Betelgeuese, Alpha Persei etc - all bright stars in OB associations formed within the last 40 My. Essentially all local star formation for the last 100 My has occured in a huge ring. Go on, what is this huge ring shaped structure called?

I didn't know. Gould's Belt?

hhEb - yes, Gould's Belt. It's a ring about 6-800 ly in radius. It started out as a big explosion (supernovae cascade?) about 40 - 80 My ago and the pressure wave has caused star formation ever since. The most active spots are the Orion Nebula and the Ophiuchus Star Cloud. It is a coincidence that the Sun is near the middle of it - the Sun is much older. Without the Gould Belt, local supernovae would be much rarer and the local bubble might not have formed.

The other answer is that Gould's Belt can be seen all through the year, but is best seen in Orion - so midwinter.

I guess the next question would be, where did it originate (and could it have somehow caused unnatural deposition of iridium? )

Mr. Gould.

No, only dinosaurs attract iridium.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

Nevermind. I just found a snippet on the net that said "Clube (1986) suggests that one of the most recent episodes of cometary bombardment in the geologic record - about 3-5 million years ago, was the result of Sol passing through the outer gas cloud of Gould's Belt." So, I guess, the earth wasn't at the middle of Gould's belt when it was born.

I wonder how far we can go back in time and say this or that star was our neighbor, say to 20 or 30 parsecs? [Just curious, as hhEb09'1 will be asking the quiz question.]

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

If I may join in...here's an easy one...what was the name of the first Great Comet of 2007?

Hi, Crux, and welcome to the forum and the quiz. The answer is C/2006 P1 McNaught, but before getting to ask a question we usually have to answer one correctly. The harder questions can sometimes stand for a week or so before an answer is found. So you'll have to "buy" your turn.

Currently, I think, it is hhEb09'1 's turn to ask the next question.

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Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

"O look, Orion. High five!"

What was she talking about?

And I thought haikus were condensed and hermetic.

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Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

Orion's right hand is raised as though he is offering a high five?

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- Learn a lot teaching others.

Mizary loves company