The Orion–Cygnus 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, therefore, the Earth) is within the Orion–Cygnus Arm. It is also referred to as the Local Arm, the Orion Arm, the Local Spur or the Orion Spur.
The Orion–Cygnus Arm is named for its proximity to the stars in the Orion constellation. It is located between the Carina–Sagittarius Arm and the Perseus Arm, the latter being one of the two major arms of the Milky Way. Within the Orion–Cygnus 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.
[edit] Messier objects
The shape of the Orion Spur
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The Orion arm contains a number of Messier objects:
[edit] Interactive maps
Orion and neighboring arms (clickable map)
The nearest nebulae and star clusters (clickable map)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ See the "Spiral Arms" part of this NASA animation for details
- ^ Harold Spencer Jones, T. H. Huxley, Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Royal Institution of Great Britain, v. 38-39
- ^ Vázquez, Ruben A.; May, Jorge; Carraro, Giovanni; Bronfman, Leonardo; Moitinho, André; Baume, Gustavo (January 2008). "Spiral Structure in the Outer Galactic Disk. I. The Third Galactic Quadrant". The Astrophysical Journal 672 (2): 930–939. Bibcode 2008ApJ...672..930V. doi:10.1086/524003.
[edit] External links
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Each arrow should be read as "within" or "part of".
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