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The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion, and is known as the middle "star" in the "sword" of Orion.
Popularly called the Orion Nebula, this stellar nursery has been known to many different cultures throughout human history. The nebula is only 1,500 light-years away, making it the closest large star-forming region to Earth and giving it a relatively bright apparent magnitude of 4.
This dramatic image offers a peek inside a cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. The image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope, represents the sharpest view ever taken of this region, called the Orion Nebula.
Jun 5, 2024 · Orion Nebula, (catalog numbers NGC 1976 and M 42), bright diffuse nebula, faintly visible to the unaided eye in the sword of the hunter’s figure in the constellation Orion. The nebula lies about 1,350 light-years from Earth and contains hundreds of very hot (O-type) young stars clustered about a nexus of four massive stars known as the Trapezium.
Nov 25, 2021 · The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) is the nearest star-forming region to Earth. It is located in the Orion Constellation, just below Orion's Belt.
Jan 11, 2006 · The Orion Nebula is a tumultuous region of dust and gas where thousands of stars are being born. Located 1,300 light-years away, it is the nearest area of star formation to Earth. In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, Hubble captured an unprecedented look at this nebula.
Dec 17, 2018 · In this image, X-rays from Chandra (blue) reveal individual young stars, which are hot and energetic. Look just below the middle of the three stars of belt in the constellation of Orion to find the Orion Nebula, which can be seen without a telescope.
Apr 5, 2010 · This magnificent image from NASA’s Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes shows the Orion Nebula in an explosion of infrared, ultraviolet, and visible-light colors. It was ‘painted’ by hundreds of baby stars on a canvas of gas and dust, with intense ultraviolet light and strong stellar winds as brushes.
Feb 11, 2016 · The colorful Orion Nebula lies in our Milky Way galaxy about 1,500 light-years from Earth. A vast expanse of valleys and pillars carved through cosmic swirls of gas and dust, this stellar nursery encompasses a complete range of star formation.
Oct 2, 2023 · One of the brightest nebulae in the night sky is Messier 42, the Orion Nebula, located south of Orion’s belt. At its core is the young Trapezium Cluster of stars, the most massive of which illuminate the surrounding gas and dust with their intense ultraviolet radiation fields, while protostars continue to form today in the OMC-1 molecular ...
