I know there are a lot of M42 images already, but there's always enough for one more! There's a reason there are so many on here: the scenery is breathtaking!

Fun facts:

1. Both Reflection and Emission Nebula

The Orion Nebula is mostly composed of hydrogen, but contains some helium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. It also has the distinction of being both a reflection and emission nebula, meaning that it is illuminated by the light from nearby stars, as well as being energized by radiation from stars produced within the nebula, which then heats the nebula’s surrounding gas causing it to fluoresce and glow. In fact, there are eight star clusters associated with the Orion Nebula, the brightest of which is mostly responsible for illuminating the whole of its surroundings, namely the Trapezium cluster.

2. Contains Trapezium Cluster

Near the center of the Orion Nebula is Trapezium, which is a one million years old open cluster, making it one of youngest star clusters ever discovered. The main component of this group is the star Theta1 Orionis, which is multiple system famous for its four bright members (A, B, C, and D), which form a trapezoid shape, and were created from matter contained within the Orion Nebula. They are spaced within just 1.5 light years of each other, and together with a few fainter stars, shine with a combined visual magnitude of +4. There are, however, around one thousand stars located within the Trapezium Cluster, which occupies an area around four light-years across, or roughly the distance between the Sun and the Alpha Centauri star system.

3. Contains and Interstellar Bow Shock

One particularly stellar object of interest is the young variable star LL Orionis, which is adrift in the Orion Nebula and forging its way through the stellar dust. Much like a ship creates waves at its front end (bow) as it moves through the water, so too does LL Orionis create a spectacular bow wave as the fast-moving stellar wind of hot gas and charged particles it produces pushes the nebula’s slow-moving cooler gas and dust aside. The size of the LL Orionis Bow Shock is around 0.5 light years across, while the star itself has around 2 solar masses, and a flow speed of between 45,000 and 180,000 mph.