Hi, I' Shannon Solomon, astrophysicist at the Clay center.

And welcome to Almost Heavens.

Here in West Virginia, we're just about halfway between the North Pole and the equator.

That means we are in the perfect spot to view everything the northern skies have to offer.

And even a little of the southern skies.

Two stars, planets and the moon aren't the only things to be seen in the night sky.

Other features, which range from galaxies to nebulas to star clusters and beyond, are generall referred to as deep sky objects.

Although not all of these objects are truly deep in the sky, many of them are difficult to see, whether because they're far away, small in size, or both.

Many of these objects are bes observed with either binoculars or a telescope, but a few are visible just to the eye especially at a dark sky site.

One of the most easily visible dee sky objects is the Orion Nebula.

This object can be found by looking below the belt of Orion and finding the sword made up of three stars in a vertical line.

If you look closely at the middle star, you might notic that it's not actually a star, but a fuzzy cloud.

This is the Orion Nebula.

This nebula is made up of gas and stardust, and it's an incredibly active star forming region where baby stars are born.

The Orion Nebula can be seen with just the eye, but some magnificatio will provide even more detail.

An even brighte deep sky object is the Pleiades.

You've likely seen it before.

It looks like a teeny tiny Big Dipper, and it can be found to th northwest of Orion and Taurus.

The Pleiades is an open star cluster, which means it's a group of new young stars that were all formed from the same cloud of gas.

Several of these star can be seen with just the eye, but enough magnification and you can see the glow they produce in the dust around them.

For a challenge, another deep sky objects can be foun north of Orion, the Crab Nebula.

This one requires a dark night and good binoculars or a telescope, but it's well worth findin because of its unusual history.

It's a supernov remnant created by the collapse and subsequent explosion of a massive star.

Although we can only estimate the age of most supernova remnants, we actually have an exact year for the creation of the Crab Nebula.

1054 A.D. in this year, all around the world, stargazers recorded seeing a new star bright enoug to see in the daytime for weeks.

This was the supernova that formed the Crab Nebula.

There are many, many other deep sky objects out there, and what can be seen varies throughout the year, so there's no shortage of interesting targets.

If you're patient and determined, there are many beautiful and fascinating objects just waiting to be found.

Thank you for joining.

Keep an eye out for more almost heavens on our channel and our socials.

Until next time.