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Updated live from Wikipedia, last check: June 02, 2012 21:53 UTC (35 seconds ago)

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Structure of the Milky Way - In this diagram, the Orion Arm is labelled "Local Spur". The position of the Solar System is indicated by the yellow dot[1].

The Orion Arm is a minor spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy some 3,500 light years across and approximately 10,000 light years in length.[2] The Solar System and Earth are within the Orion Arm. It is also referred to as the Local Arm, the Local Spur or the Orion Spur.

The Orion Arm is named for its proximity to the stars in the Orion constellation. It is located between the Sagittarius Arm and the Perseus Arm, two of the four major arms of the Milky Way. Within the Orion Arm, the solar system and Earth are located close to the inner rim in the Local Bubble, about half-way along the Arm's length, approximately 8,000 parsecs (26,000 light-years) from the galactic center.

Contents

Messier objects

The Orion arm contains a number of Messier objects:

Interactive maps

Rosette Nebula Crab Nebula Orion Nebula Trifid Nebula Lagoon Nebula Omega Nebula Eagle Nebula North America Nebula Rigel The Three Kings Polaris Sun Betelgeuse Deneb Perseus arm Orion arm Sagittarius Arm
About this image
Orion and neighboring arms (clickable map)
Rosette Nebula Seagull Nebula Cone Nebula California Nebula Heart Nebula Orion Nebula Soul Nebula North America Nebula Cocoon Nebula Gamma Cygni Nebula Veil Nebula Trifid Nebula Crescent Nebula Lagoon Nebula Omega Nebula Eagle Nebula Cat's Paw Nebula Eta Carinae Nebula Crab Nebula Messier 37 Messier 36 Messier 38 Messier 50 Messier 46 Messier 67 Messier 34 Messier 48 Messier 41 Messier 47 Messier 44 Messier 45 Messier 37 Messier 52 Messier 93 Messier 7 Messier 6 Messier 25 Messier 23 Messier 21 Messier 18 Messier 26 Messier 11 Messier 35 NGC 2362 IC 2395 NGC 3114 NGC 3532 IC 1396 IC 2602 NGC 6087 NGC 6025 NGC 3766 NGC 4665 IC 2581 IC 2944 NGC 4755 NGC 3293 NGC 6067 NGC 6193 NGC 6231 NGC 6383 Tr 14 Tr 16 Messier 103 Messier 29 HPer Chi Per Col 228 O Vel Perseus Arm Orion Arm Sagittarius Arm Star Cluster Nebula
The nearest nebulae and star clusters (clickable map)

See also

References

  1. ^ See the "Spiral Arms" part of this NASA animation for details
  2. ^ Harold Spencer Jones, T. H. Huxley, Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Royal Institution of Great Britain, v. 38-39

External links

Earth's location in the universe
Each arrow should be read as "within" or "part of".
The Milky Way
Location
The Milky Way Galaxy
Galactic core
Spiral arms
Satellite galaxies
Other







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