Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  41 Ori A)  ·  41 Ori C  ·  41 Ori D  ·  41 the01 Ori  ·  42 Ori)  ·  42 c Ori  ·  43 Ori)  ·  43 the02 Ori  ·  44 Ori)  ·  44 iot Ori  ·  45 Ori  ·  Great Orion Nebula  ·  HD294178  ·  HD294179  ·  HD294180  ·  HD294222  ·  HD294261  ·  HD294262  ·  HD294263  ·  HD294321  ·  HD294328  ·  HD36324  ·  HD36364  ·  HD36365  ·  HD36366  ·  HD36412  ·  HD36445  ·  HD36540  ·  HD36559  ·  HD36593  ·  And 91 more.
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Orion Nebula (M42), Naveen Shokeen
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Orion Nebula (M42)

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Orion Nebula (M42), Naveen Shokeen
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Orion Nebula (M42)

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Description

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, 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.

The Orion Nebula contains a very young open cluster, known as the Trapezium due to the asterism of its primary four stars. Two of these can be resolved into their component binary systems on nights with good seeing, giving a total of six stars. The stars of the Trapezium, along with many other stars, are still in their early years. The Trapezium is a component of the much larger Orion Nebula Cluster, an association of about 2,800 stars within a diameter of 20 light years. Two million years ago this cluster may have been the home of the runaway stars AE Aurigae, 53 Arietis, and Mu Columbae, which are currently moving away from the nebula at speeds greater than 100 km/s (62 mi/s).

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Orion Nebula (M42), Naveen Shokeen