Explanation: The
Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby
starbirth region, is one of the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas. Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away. In the featured deep image in
assigned colors highlighted by emission in
hydrogen, wisps and sheets of
dust and gas are particularly evident. The
Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye near the
easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular
constellation Orion. In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain much
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40
light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
Tomorrow's picture: open space