Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  41 the01 Ori  ·  43 the02 Ori  ·  De Mairan's nebula  ·  Great Orion Nebula  ·  LBN 974  ·  M 42  ·  M 43  ·  Mairan's Nebula  ·  NGC 1976  ·  NGC 1982  ·  Orion Nebula  ·  Sh2-281  ·  The star θ1Ori  ·  The star θ2Ori
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M 42 The Orion nebula, Jeffery Richards
Powered byPixInsight

M 42 The Orion nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M 42 The Orion nebula, Jeffery Richards
Powered byPixInsight

M 42 The Orion nebula

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. It is 1,344 ± 20 light-years (412.1 ± 6.1 pc) away and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across. It has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M 42 The Orion nebula, Jeffery Richards