The Orion Nebula
M42 is the catalogue number of this huge cloud of glowing hydrogen. In the center of the cloud there are stars forming. They are very hot and giving off a lot of energy of all types. This is causing the cloud of hydrogen from which they are forming to glow. M43 is a smaller similar nebula. The Orion nebula appears much bigger than the full moon and is easy to find with binoculars. The nebula is 1500 light years away, so the light that made this photograph left there around the year 500 AD.
Image: February 11, 2007
