The Orion Nebula

M42, NGC 1976

Best time to observe: December - March

To locate:

In winter, face south and locate the dramatic constellation of Orion. The Great Nebula appears to the naked eye as the middle star in Orion's sword (not his belt).

What to notice:

Through your telescope, look for a hazy, irregular patch of light, with a few tiny stars in the center. If the sky is dark you might be able to detect a slightly green hue. You should be able to pick out four closely spaced stars in the center, which form a diamond or trapezoid shape. This is called the "Trapezium". Light and energy from these, and other smaller stars, make the nebula glow. Examine the area around the Trapezium. You might make out several clouds of light, separated by darker gaps. Examine the nebula to see how far it extends into space. Try to sketch its unusual shape.

What you are looking at:

The Orion Nebula is a gigantic cloud of dust and gas where baby stars are forming. The Nebula is immense -- the part of the cloud you can see is 31 light years across, or 50,000 times as big as our solar system. But the cloud extends much, much farther out and includes most of the stars we see in Orion. It contains enough material to make thousands of stars like our Sun. The Trapezium stars you saw are stellar infants only 300,000 years old, born about the time primates were learning to walk upright. Recent discoveries by the Hubbell Space Telescope show evidence of planets being formed around the new stars. Astronomers think all stars were born in nebulae like this one, including our Sun.

Sketch the Orion Nebula, using one of your observing pages.

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