Data  
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Messier Database
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Constellation Database
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Bright Star Chart
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Navigation Stars

Information/References 

arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Stellar Spectral Classes
 arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Galaxy Types
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Greek Alphabet
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Planet Data
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Comet Anatomy
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Variable Stars

TOOLS
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes)Julian Date

arrowdown.gif (842 bytes) AAVSO Variable Star of the Month
arrowdown.gif (842 bytes) Check your knowledge on
variable stars.

The Orion Nebula is the middle 'star' in the sword of Orion the Hunter. M42 can be seen without optical aid as a hazy star, but through even a small telescope it is a magnificent sight. M42 is the brightest nebula visible from Earth and is thus the best studied. Its distance is 1600 ly - relatively close. Many new stars are forming in the interior of the cloud and several proto-solar systems have been discovered with infrared astrophotography. Six inch and larger telescopes reveal a cluster of four stars at the heart of the
M42 The Great Nebula in Orion (NGC 1976)

Object type: Emission (H II region) nebula
Distance from Earth: ÷ 1600 light years / 490 parsecs
Distance across Nebula: ÷ 16 light years / 4.9 parsecs

 
 
 Home