Key facts
- Category
- Nebulae
- Object class
- Emission nebula
- Host
- Milky Way
- Scale fact
- 24 lydiameter
- Composition
- Ionized hydrogen, molecular gas, dust
- Temperature
- ~10,000 K ionized gas
Orion Nebula
24 lydiameter
Details
The Orion Nebula is one of the nearest large star-forming regions, close enough for astronomers to resolve young stars inside glowing gas and dust. Hubble observations revealed many protoplanetary disks here, allowing researchers to study how radiation from nearby massive stars affects planet-forming material.
The Orion Nebula is a nearby cavity of ionized gas on the surface of a much larger molecular cloud. Ultraviolet radiation from the young Trapezium cluster makes the gas glow and erodes the surrounding cloud, while stars continue forming in denser material nearby.
Hubble resolved many protoplanetary disks, or proplyds, in the nebula. Some are being photoevaporated by radiation from massive stars, providing a direct view of how a crowded stellar nursery can alter the material available for forming planets.
Links
- Editorial guides
- Universe journey
- Orion Arm
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- Orion Nebula on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Orion Nebula on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Orion Nebula falls between Crab Nebula and Eagle Nebula. The band uses nearby Emission nebula records.
Shared physical scale
53.5ly
Sources
References for Orion Nebula
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Orion Nebula — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Astro.sin (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 4.0)
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.