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Credit & Copyright: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion, M42, can be found on the night sky just below and
to the left of the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular
constellation Orion. This nebula is one of the closest stellar nurseries -
where young stars are being formed even now.
Clumps of gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) and dust in the nebula
are squeezed together by their own gravity until they collapse and
form stars.
Some stars we can see here partially obscured by the nebula,
are only about 100,000 years
old - just babies compared to the 5 billion (5,000,000,000) years of
our Sun.
For more information see NASA, Hubble Space Telescope Scientific Institute press release.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: nebula - Orion
Publications with words: nebula - Orion
See also:
- APOD: 2024 June 11 Á Colorful Stars and Clouds near Rho Ophiuchi
- APOD: 2024 January 31 Á Camera Orion Rising
- APOD: 2024 January 23 Á Deep Nebulas: From Seagull to California
- APOD: 2024 January 16 Á The Orion You Can Almost See
- APOD: 2023 June 14 Á The Shark Nebula
- APOD: 2023 January 25 Á LDN 1622: The Boogeyman Nebula
- NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula