By far the most conspicuous irregular nebula visible from our northern States, is the great nebula in Orion, No. 1,179, represented on Plate XV. This object, visible to the naked eye, is the brightest and the most wonderful nebula in the heavens. It is situated a little to the south of the three bright stars in the belt of Orion, and may be readily detected surrounding the star θ, situated between and in a line with two faint stars, the three being in a straight line which points directly towards ε, the middle star of the three in Orion's belt. The area occupied by this nebula is about equal to that occupied by the Moon.
In its brightest parts the nebula in Orion appears as a luminous cloud of a pentagonal form, from which issue many luminous appendages of various shapes and lengths. This principal mass is divided into secondary masses, separated by darkish, irregular intervals. These secondary masses in their turn appear mottled and fleecy. Towards the lower part of the pentagonal mass is found a roundish dark space, comparatively devoid of nebulosity, in which are involved four bright stars forming a trapezium, and several fainter ones. The four bright stars of the trapezium constitute the quadruple star θ Orionis, from which the nebula has received its name. The cloud-like pentagonal form is brightest on the north-west of the trapezium, and is surrounded on three sides by long, soft, curved wisps, fading insensibly into the outer nebulous mass in which they are involved. On the east a broad, wavy wing spreads out, and sends an important branch southward. South-east of the trapezium are found several curious dark spaces, comparatively devoid of nebulosity, especially those on the east, which give to this nebula a singular character. Close to the north-eastern part of the nebula, or rather in contact with it, is found a small, curiously-shaped nebula, condensing around a bright star into a blazing nucleus. From this centre it continues northward in a narrow diffused stream, which spreads out in passing over the stars c1 and c2; and after having sent short branches northward, it curves back to the south and joins the main nebula on the west of its starting point, having thus formed a great loop which is not shown on the Plate. The nebula also forms a loop towards the south, which is partly shown on Plate XV., a small branch of which, passing through τ Orionis, the nebulous star shown at the top of the Plate, and extending southward, is not here represented.
On ordinary nights the nebula in Orion is a splendid object, and inspires the observer with amazement; but this is as nothing compared with the grand and magnificent sight which it presents during the very rare moments when our atmosphere is perfectly clear and steady. I have seen this nebula but once under these favorable circumstances, and I was surprised by the grandeur of the scene. Then could be detected features to be seen at no other time, and its fleecy, floculent, cloud-like masses glittered with such intensity that it seemed as if thousands of stars were going to blaze out the next moment. Although I observed the nebula under such favorable conditions, and with the fifteen-inch refractor of the Cambridge Observatory, yet I was disappointed in my expectations, and distinguished no new stars or points of light, and nothing more than a very bright mass, finely divided into minute blazing cloudlets. Although I failed to resolve this nebula into stars, yet Lord Rosse, Bond and Secchi thought they had caught glimpses of star dust. Its spectrum, however, proves to be mainly that of incandescent gases, probably hydrogen and nitrogen. In the curved wisps found in this nebula, Lord Rosse and others saw indications of a spiral structure.
Several bright stars are found scattered over this nebula, and besides those forming the trapezium, there are three in a row, a little to the south-east of that group, which are quite bright and remarkable. Among the stars involved in this nebula, few show signs of having a physical connection with it, although it seems probable that the group of the trapezium is so connected. Some of these stars are variable. The small stars represented on this Plate, as on others of the series, are somewhat exaggerated in size, as was unavoidable with any process of reproduction which could be adopted.
In 1811, W. Herschel was led to suspect that some changes had occurred in this nebula, but changes in such complicated and delicate objects are not easily ascertained, since, for the most part, we have for comparison with our later observations only coarse drawings made by hands unskilled in delineation.
Although comparatively rare, double and multiple nebulæ may be found in the sky. When this occurs, their constituents most commonly belong to the class of spherical nebulæ. Sometimes the components are separated and distinct, at other times one of them is projected upon the other, either really or by the effect of perspective. Sometimes one is round and the other elongated. It is probable that while some of these nebulæ are physically associated and form a system, others appear to be so only because they happen to be almost in a line with the observer. A double nebula in Draco, Nos. 4,127 and 4,128, which I have drawn, is a fair type of those which are separated. The first is a globular nebula, and the last an oval one, with a star at its centre. The double nebula, Nos. 858 and 859, in Taurus, which I have also studied, is a type of the cases in which one nebula is partly projected on another. In this instance both the nebulæ are globular.
The nebulæ in general show very little color in their light, which is ordinarily whitish and pale. Some, however, present a decided bluish or greenish tint. The great nebula in Orion has a greenish cast, and we have seen that some planetary nebulæ are bluish.
It has been a question whether nebulæ are changing. It has already been stated that Prof. Holden believes there is ground to suspect that the Trifid and Horse-shoe nebulæ have undergone some changes. A nebula near ε Tauri has been lost and found again several times. Two other nebulæ in the same constellation have presented curious variations. One, near a star of the tenth magnitude, exhibited variations of brightness like those of the star itself, and for a time disappeared. The other, near ζ Tauri, increased in brightness for three months, after which it disappeared. In 1859 Tempel discovered a nebula in the Pleiades, which has shown some fluctuations. In 1875 I made a long study of this object, and drew it carefully a dozen times, but I was not able to see any changes in it within the two or three months during which my observations were continued. But on Nov. 24, 1876, it was found of a different color, being purplish and very faint. On Dec. 23, 1880, it was found just as bright and visible as when I drew it in 1875, and on Oct. 20, 1881, it appeared faint and purplish again, as in 1876. On this last night, and on those which followed it, it was impossible for me to trace the nebulosity as far as in 1875. I consider this as due to a variation in the light of this object, which in 1875 was bright enough to be well seen while the Moon after her First Quarter was within ten or fifteen degrees from the Pleiades.
From the observations of M. Laugier, it appears that some nebulæ have a proper motion, comparable to that of stars. From the displacement of the lines of their spectra by their motion in the line of sight, Dr. Huggins found that no nebula observed by him has a proper motion surpassing 25 miles per second. The Ring nebula in Lyra appears to move from us at the rate of 3 miles per second, and that in Orion recedes about 17 miles per second.
The important question arises, are all the irresolvable nebulæ in the heavens to be considered as so many star-clusters, differing only from them by the minuteness of their components, or their immense distance from us; or are they cosmical clouds, composed of luminous vapors, similar to the matter composing the heads and tails of comets? Originally, W. Herschel, with many astronomers, thought that all these objects were stellar aggregations, too distant to be resolved into stars; but he subsequently modified his opinion, and accepted the idea that some of them are of a gaseous nature.