Orion Nebula M42
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 . [b] It is one of the brightest nebulae , and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years [3] [6] 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 2000 times the mass of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula. [7] The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky, and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. [8] The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks , brown dwarfs , intense an...