The Orion Nebula is located south of Orion's belt.
The Orion Nebula is an astronomical object located south of Orion's belt . It is characterized by its great brightness and because it can be seen from planet Earth with the naked eye.
To understand exactly what the concept refers to, it is important to examine several terms. Attention should be paid, therefore, to various words that are used in the field of astronomy , which is the science dedicated to the study of the stars .
The stars are celestial bodies : objects that are in the sky . In the case of nebulae , they are specifically luminous matter from the interstellar medium that is made up of cosmic gas and dust and whose outline is usually not precise.
Features of the Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula is classified as a diffuse or illuminated nebula . Within this set, it is mentioned as a reflection nebula , since it reflects the luminosity emitted by stars located in its vicinity. Emission nebulae , on the other hand, are illuminated nebulae that emit light through an ionized gas.
This nebula, also called NGC 1976 , M42 or Messier 42 , is located next to Orion's belt . At this point it is important to note that Orion's belt is an asterism : a grouping of stars that can be seen from our planet . Beyond this definition, the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) indicates that asterism is a synonym for constellation (a set of stars that, appealing to imaginary lines, make up a figure).
Along with other nebulae (such as the Horsehead Nebula and the Flame Nebula ), as well as young stars and protoplanetary disks , the Orion Nebula forms the Orion Cloud Molecular Complex , sometimes called the Orion Complex or Cloud. of Orion . In it, there are areas that can be perceived with the naked eye in the night sky, while others require the use of telescopes or binoculars .
It is interesting to note that four stars in the Orion Nebula establish the asterism known as the Trapezium Cluster , observed in 1617 by Galileo Galilei (who, however, made no reference to the nebula). The solar winds and ultraviolet light released by these stars cause a cavity in the central space of the nebula.
The Orion Nebula has always been of great interest to astronomy.
Your discovery
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580–1637) es señalado como el descubridor de la Orion nebula. Este astrónomo francés escribió al respecto en 1610, mientras que en las décadas siguientes otros científicos, cada uno por su parte, advirtieron asimismo su existencia.
In 1774 , Charles Messier included the Orion Nebula in his catalog of astronomical objects. It is because of its position on this list that this nebula is also named Messier 42 or M42 .
As time went by, knowledge about the Orion Nebula multiplied. William Huggins managed to confirm the gaseous nature of the nebula through spectroscopy in 1865 ; Years later, astronomical images obtained by Henry Draper allowed more details to be discovered.
Starting in 1993 , the Hubble space telescope was responsible for providing a large amount of information about the Orion Nebula . This device has made it possible to investigate protoplanetary disks , brown dwarfs and other elements that make up this famous astronomical object.
The Orion Nebula and the Webb Telescope
In 2022 , the James Webb Space Telescope was able to take images of the Orion Nebula of great value to specialists. These contributions are contributing to the advanced study of stellar evolution and planetary evolution .
In particular, the astronomers explained that the photos help understand the process that massive stars carry out to transform the cloud of dust and gas from which they emerge. What has been observed, in this framework, is useful to understand the cycle of star birth in its entirety.
Locating Las Tres Marías helps find the Orion Nebula.
The formation of stars and planets
In fact, the Orion Nebula plays a very important role in star formation . The association of cosmic dust that is produced there by the action of gravity gives rise to stellar development, which takes shape in the H II regions (clouds of plasma and gas) when various elements accumulate.
When the stars are already formed in the nebula, they begin to emit the solar wind . Young stars and massive stars are those that emit the strongest wind, which impinges on the gas clouds.
Protoplanetary disks , on the other hand, host the various physical processes that lead to the composition of planets. In the Orion Nebula , about 150 of these disks have been observed.
How to see the Orion Nebula
Seeing the Orion Nebula is quite easy from Earth . It can be observed with the naked eye, but binoculars or binoculars make the task even easier. If you have a telescope, it is possible to appreciate different details of the nebula.
The Orion Nebula is located about 1,350 light years from Earth . As always with astronomical observation, the ideal is to be located in a place without light pollution. However, the Orion Nebula can be distinguished even from a large city.
In the southern hemisphere , the Orion Nebula is observable during summer. The opposite happens in the northern hemisphere , where it can be seen in winter.
To find it in the sky, one option is to locate the brightest star in the Orion constellation , called Rigel . Near it, establishing the so-called sword of Orion , this nebula appears.
Another possibility is to locate Orion's belt, which has three very bright stars ( Mintaka , Alnilam and Alnitak , known colloquially as The Three Marys or The Three Wise Men ). Towards the south, very close to the belt, is the Orion Nebula .