NASA features M42, the Great Nebula in Orion
2 min readNASA featured the Great Nebula in Orion in an announcement published Monday 26 October 2026. The agency said M42, also known as the Orion Nebula, is an immense nearby starbirth region and one of the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. NASA described the object as spanning about 40 light years and lying in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.
The featured deep image used assigned colors highlighted by emission in hydrogen, according to NASA. The agency said wisps and sheets of dust and gas were particularly evident in the image. Glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away.
NASA said the Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars, proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. The announcement also described the region as housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye, NASA said. It lies near the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion. The announcement placed the nebula in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun and gave its distance as only 1500 light-years. In the featured image, wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident.
The announcement said each day a different image or photograph of the universe is featured with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. NASA's feature for M42 presented the Great Nebula in Orion. The image highlighted emission in hydrogen and showed wisps and sheets of dust and gas. Hot young stars appear at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud in the nebula.
NASA said M42 spans about 40 light years. The bright open cluster known as the Trapezium is housed in the Orion Nebula. Its many stellar nurseries include much hydrogen gas, hot young stars, proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. The announcement identified the nebula as visible with the unaided eye near Orion's belt of three stars.
