Binoculars and small telescopes reveal a cloudy patch of light. The nebula is located in the sword of Orion and appears as the middle, slightly fuzzy-looking “star” in the sword to the unaided eye. The Orion Nebula lies at a distance of 1,344 light years (400 parsecs) from Earth, and can be found in the constellation Orion, to the south of Orion’s Belt, one of the best known asterisms in the night sky. The Orion Nebula spans a degree in the sky, and includes stellar associations, reflection nebulae, dust and gas clouds, and ionized volumes of gas. They have also discovered what they believe are some of the younger protostars ever found. The best time of year to observe the nebula is the winter, during the months of December and January, when Orion constellation is high in the sky.Īstronomers studying the nebula have learned a lot about the formation of stars and planetary systems from collapsing dust and gas clouds, and they have observed the effects of massive stars photo-ionizing the clouds in the nebula. The nebulous region of M42 is easily seen through binoculars or a small telescope. The Orion Nebula is a picture book of star formation, from the massive, young stars that are shaping the nebula to the pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars. These stars reside in a dramatic dust-and-gas landscape of plateaus, mountains, and valleys that are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. Some of them have never been seen in visible light. ![]() ![]() More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. ![]() This turbulent star formation region is one of astronomy’s most dramatic and photogenic celestial objects. Orion Nebula (Messier 42) – In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an unprecedented look at the Orion Nebula.
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