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The Orion Nebula
13 January 2020 One of my very first astronomical photographs. This is the Orion Nebula. The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. It has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun. This nebula shines brightly in the hydrogen alpha (red) spectral line, which is captured using a special Ha filter. |