The Orion Nebula M42

• 1. AAT Telescope
• 2. Hubble Space Telescope
  1. HST Mosaic of M42 region
  2. HST Mosaic Detail
  3. Proplyds
  4. Research Detail
  5. Piercing the clouds with NICMOS
• 3. Subaru Telescope

The Orion Nebula

When this image of the central region of the Orion Nebular was released in 1995, it was largest image taken taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a mosaic of 15 separate exposurses that covers ar area approximately half the sixe of the the full moon. It is centered on the trapezium, a cluster of four massive young stars at the center of M42. Their light has blasted dust and gas from the immediate vicinity and it reflects from the walls of the resulting cavity.