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Loading contentA diffuse emission nebula and active star-forming region, one of the brightest nebulae visible to the naked eye.
nebula:orion-nebulaDataset membership
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The Orion Nebula (M42) is the nearest large star-forming region to Earth, about 1,340 light-years away, and is visible to the naked eye below Orion's Belt.
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Real, source-backed references — primary papers first, then datasets and institutional sources. Formatted through the citation engine; nothing is fabricated.
Space Telescope Science Institute
Space Telescope Science Institute (n.d.). Orion Nebula (M42) — HubbleSite / STScI. Space Telescope Science Institute. https://www.stsci.edu/
@misc{cite:stsci-nebula-orion-nebula,
title = {Orion Nebula (M42) — HubbleSite / STScI},
organization = {Space Telescope Science Institute},
year = {n.d.},
url = {https://www.stsci.edu/},
note = {STScI imagery and science for Orion Nebula (M42).}
}How Orion Nebula connects across Asteria Star — scientific, cultural, and astrological links are kept separate.
Henry Draper was an American physician and pioneer of astrophotography. In 1872 he made the first photograph showing the spectral lines of a star, Vega, and in 1880 he captured the first photograph of the Orion Nebula.
The dense cores of molecular clouds where gravity pulls gas together into new stars, and where the heat and radiation of those young stars drive a burst of chemistry. The Orion Nebula is the nearest region of massive star formation and the most-studied example.
A cloud of interstellar gas that glows with its own light, ionised by the ultraviolet radiation of nearby hot stars so that it re-emits in characteristic lines — most famously the red of hydrogen. Emission nebulae mark regions of active star formation and include the great HII regions of the Galaxy.
A large cloud of ionised atomic hydrogen (H II) surrounding one or more hot O- and B-type stars, whose ultraviolet light strips the electrons from the surrounding gas. HII regions are the glowing signposts of massive-star formation, and their sizes and spectra are used to trace star formation across galaxies.
H II region in Dorado, magnitude 7.25.
Reflection nebula in Taurus.
Planetary nebula in Cygnus, magnitude 9.44.
Planetary nebula in Delphinus, magnitude 11.1.
Planetary nebula in Centaurus, magnitude 8.1.
Planetary nebula in Cepheus, magnitude 11.89.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.