Orion Nebula

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Image:Messier-42-10.12.2004-filtered.jpeg Image:Trapezium cluster optical and infrared comparison.jpg Image:Orionnebel2.jpg

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier Object 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a glowing emission nebula with a greenish hue and is situated below Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of about 1,600 light years from the planet Earth, is 33 light years across, and can be seen clearly through even low-power binoculars, particularly from dark sky locations.

The Orion Nebula contains a very young open cluster, known as the Trapezium, with many stars still in their early years. Observations with powerful telescopes (especially the Hubble Space Telescope) have found stars enclosed in dust rings, probably the first phase of a planetary system formation.

The Orion Nebula was discovered in 1610 by Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc and has fascinated astronomers ever since.