The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby star birth region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye just below and to the left of the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion. In addition to housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain hydrogen gas, hot young stars and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

Imaging Data

Date: 9-5-2010

Location : Sudbury, Massachusetts

Optics : William Optic ZenithStar 66mm Semi-Apo Refractor

Filter(s) : None

Mount : Piggyback Meade LX-200 on ATS Pier

Autoguiding : None

Camera : Canon EOS 1000D Astro-modified

Exposure info : 10 x 120 second Exposures @ISO 800

Total Exposure : 20 minutes