File:M42 in the Orion Nebula complex (NGC1976).jpg

Summary
The Orion Nebula complex (NGC1976): The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky, shining brightly in the constellation Orion. The Orion Nebula complex is the closest "Star Forming" region to the Sun, but still lies about 1,600 light years away and is 30 light years across. Inside the bright core, hydrogen gas and dust are collapsing into new stars, creating intense heat and radiation, which causes the outer clouds of gases to glow beautiful shades of pink and red. Another nebula can be seen in this photograph, the blue reflection nebula NGC1977. The blue color of this nebula is caused by reflected starlight from some bright stars onto gas and dust floating in the foreground. Dark lanes of dust create distinct shadows, which give rise to its nickname "the Running Man Nebula".

Photographic Details
This is a single 30 minute exposure with the Meade LXD75 8” Schmidt Newtonian telescope. The image was captured at prime focus with an Olympus OM-1 SLR and Fujichrome Provia 400F slide film. The telescope was manually guided during tracking with an Orion 910mm f/l guidescope. (c)2005 Peter Kennett. See Astrophotography to learn more about this style of photography.