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Credit & Copyright: Fönyes Lö¨rönd
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas
surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the featured deep image in
assigned colors
highlighted by emission in
oxygen and
hydrogen,
wisps and sheets of dust
and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion
can be found with the
unaided eye near the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain much
hydrogen gas,
hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
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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: Orion Nebula - M 42
Publications with words: Orion Nebula - M 42
See also:
- APOD: 2025 August 13 Á Trapezium: In the Heart of Orion
- APOD: 2025 April 20 Á The Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared
- APOD: 2024 September 10 Á Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
- Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion
- APOD: 2023 October 10 Á Hidden Orion from Webb
- Orion and the Running Man
- M43: Streams of Orion