The Great Orion Nebula - M42

Located in the constellation of Orion, M42, also known as the Great Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects. It lies at a distance of about 1600 light years from Earth and spans about 30 light years across. To get a better understanding of distances in space, consider the fact that our Earth is about 1.5 light seconds from our Moon and is 7 light minutes from our Sun.

Inside the massive gas cloud of the Great Orion Nebula, we are witnessing the birth of star systems. As gravity pulls these gases together enormous pressures and temperatures are generated until ultimately the individual atoms are so heated and compressed that nuclear fission occurs and voilà, a new star is born! M42 is an easy target, even for small telescopes and binoculars.