Orion Nebula

stellar nursery · M42 · in the sword of Orion

1,344 light-years from Earth

The nearest big star factory, visible to the naked eye as the fuzzy middle "star" of Orion's sword. Four hot young stars at its heart, the Trapezium, light the whole cloud.

• 1,344 light-years · about 24 light-years across
• ~2,000 newborn stars, most under a million years old

kind

nebula

catalogue

M42 · NGC 1976 · M43 · NGC 1982