Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  Great Nebula in Orion  ·  M 42  ·  M 43  ·  NGC 1976  ·  NGC 1982  ·  The star θ1Ori  ·  The star θ2Ori
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M 42, The Orion Nebula, Paul Kent
M 42, The Orion Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

M 42, The Orion Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M 42, The Orion Nebula, Paul Kent
M 42, The Orion Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

M 42, The Orion Nebula

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

M42, The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest regions of star formation as viewed from Earth. Located 1340 light years away, the Orion Nebula shines brightly in the light of ionised hydrogen atoms, amongst others. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe, and as a result, many gaseous objects emit plenty of Hydrogen light. This is responsible for the pinky/red colour of many gas clouds. The nebula itself is powered by some very hot, young stars right in the core, known as the 'Trapezium'. The brightest star in this association of 6 stars is Theta-1 C, weighing in at 40x that of the sun and a surface temperature of around 40,000 K. The stars output a lot of UV light, which electrons in the surrounding atoms of the nebula absorb and then re-emit. In this photo, we have used filters that isolate the emission from Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur atoms. The 'scalloped' shape of the nebula arises from the strong stellar winds that arise from these incredibly hot, massive stars.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M 42, The Orion Nebula, Paul Kent