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M42 (NGC 1976) · Emission Nebula
Orion Nebula
The brightest diffuse nebula in the sky and the closest large star-forming region to Earth — a glowing stellar nursery visible to the naked eye in Orion's sword.
The Orion Nebula is the nearest region of massive star formation to the Sun, about 1,340 light-years away, and one of the most studied objects in the entire sky. It is the bright middle 'star' of the three that hang from Orion's Belt — a vast cloud of gas and dust roughly 24 light-years across where new stars are being born right now.
At its heart sits the Trapezium, a tight cluster of hot young stars whose ultraviolet radiation lights up the surrounding hydrogen and carves glowing cavities and dark pillars of dust. Embedded protoplanetary disks ('proplyds') around many of the cluster's stars are nascent solar systems caught in the act of forming.
The nebula's enormous brightness range — from the searingly bright Trapezium core to faint outer tendrils — makes it a classic high-dynamic-range target. This wide-field view also catches the blue Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977) just to the north. Even short exposures reveal vivid colour, which is why M42 is the object almost every astrophotographer images first.
// imaging sessions
session // 01
01.11.2025 DSLR broadband — Nikon D750 + Nikkor 55–300 mm on EQ5 Pro
- Gear
- Nikon D750 DSLR · Nikon 55–300 mm lens · Sky-Watcher EQ5 Pro SynScan GoTo
- Filters / frames
- None — DSLR broadband
- Total integration
- 30 s subs
- Frames
- 30 s subs
- Software
- Siril · GIMP
Wide-field of the Orion Nebula and the Running Man (NGC 1977) on 1 November 2025, Nikon D750 + Nikkor 55–300 mm lens at ~280 mm on the EQ5 Pro SynScan GoTo. Short 30 s subs to protect the bright Trapezium core. Stacked in Siril, finished in GIMP.
