Nebula
Orion Nebula
Emission / reflection nebula · M42
The nearest great stellar nursery
Visible to the naked eye as the fuzzy middle 'star' of Orion's sword. Inside, the young Trapezium stars light up a cloud where thousands of stars are forming.
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~1,344 light-years
Size
~24 light-years
Apparent mag.
+4.0
Did you know
- Protoplanetary disks have been imaged around many of its young stars.
- It is one of the most photographed objects in the sky.
- Its stars are only ~1–3 million years old.
