An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The best known → ionized nebula and one of the nearest regions to the Sun in which stars are presently being formed. It is visible to the naked eye in the constellation → Orion south of → Orion's Belt as a fuzzy patch. It lies about 1,500 → light-years away and measures about 30 light-years across. The Orion Nebula is ionized and made visible by a small group of → O-type and → B-type stars known as the → Trapezium cluster. Other designations: M 42, NGC 1976. See also: → Orion molecular cloud; → Huygens Region ; → Orion association; → Orion Bar; → Orion Bright Bar.

→ Orion; → nebula.