What is the Orion Nebula?

The Orion Nebula M42 is an emission nebula in Orion and a diffuse nebula in Orion. Discovered by Dutch astronomer Huygens in 1656, the diameter is about 16 light years, the magnitude of the star is 4th magnitude, and it is 1,500 light years away from the earth. The Orion Nebula is a huge cloud of gas and dust that is generating new stars in space. Looking through the telescope, we can see that the shape of the Orion Nebula is like a big bird with spread wings, and its brightness is quite high. It is second only to the Kalina Nebula throughout the day, and can be observed with the naked eye in areas without light damage . The Orion Nebula is the brightest gas nebula throughout the day.

Orion Nebula

Most of the stars in the Orion Nebula were formed between 2 and 3 million years ago, and their actual age is less than one thousandth of that of the sun and the earth. The Orion Nebula is one of the main subjects of astrophotography lovers and observatory's large telescope. For astronomy enthusiasts, the M42 is a deep space object worth seeing: as long as a small telescope or binoculars can be viewed. For astronomers, this nebula is a popular research object, pointing from large ground-based telescopes to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

Astronomers have directly observed Protoplanetary disks, brown dwarfs, intense and chaotic movements of gas, and a large number of photonized stars nearby.

As long as one has a pair of binoculars or a spyglass, one can see the M42. If the environment is ideal, a five-minute exposure with a camera equipped with a wide-angle lens can capture the pink light of the entire Orion and Orion Nebula. The detail of the nebula next to it is also a test of astrophotography, telescope resolution and post-processing time.

From 2004 to 2005, scientists from the NASA Scientific Institute and the European Space Agency observed the Orion Nebula with advanced mapping cameras and other equipment mounted on the Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained the highest resolution panoramic photographs of the nebula. Looking at the Orion Nebula through ordinary binoculars, it is like a flaming bird flying with wings, so it also has the names of the Flaming Nebula and the Flame Nebula, but it is not commonly used.

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken the clearest panoramic picture of the Orion Nebula to date (as of January 11, 2006 ^[4] ). This photo not only shows the birth of a large number of stars, but also contains rare brown dwarfs. The Orion Nebula is about 1,500 light-years away from the solar system. It is the closest birthplace of stars in the Milky Way. It contains thousands of newborn stars and columnar interstellar dust clouds that have bred stars. It has been a "hot spot" observed by astronomers for a long time. Scientists from the United States Space Telescope Science Institute and the European Space Agency observed the Orion Nebula with advanced mapping cameras and other equipment carried on the Hubble Space Telescope from 2004 to 2005, and obtained the highest resolution panoramic photos of the nebula. . Looking at the Orion Nebula through ordinary binoculars, it is like a flaming bird flying with wings, so it also has the title of "flaming bird nebula, but it is not commonly used.

In the first month of 2007, the Quadrant Meteor Shower kicked off the 2007 Astrological Performance. This month the Sun moves from Sagittarius to Capricorn, admiring the most spectacular constellation in winter, the Orion Nebula.

The Orion Nebula is about 1500 light-years away from the solar system. It is the closest birthplace of stars in the Milky Way. It contains thousands of new stars and columnar interstellar dust clouds that have bred stars. It has been a hot spot for astronomers for a long time. ^[5]

Orion is the most spectacular constellation in the starry sky in winter. Because of its high brightness, it is also one of the best deep-sky objects to observe in winter. The Orion Nebula, number M42, is an emission nebula, located in the middle of the Orion Sword. The mass of the Orion Nebula is about 100,000 times that of the Sun. This is a famous area where stars are born. Many of the "spheroids" in the nebula are the protostars that are forming. ^[6]