Image 6-17
Orion Nebula Center

This spectacular color panorama of the center the Orion nebula covers an area of sky about five percent the area covered by the full Moon. The image reveals a churning turbulent star factory within a storm of luminescent gas. This image covers an area 2.5 light-years across. It is a small portion of the entire nebula, but it includes almost all of the light from the bright glowing clouds of gas and a star cluster associated with the nebula. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula is located approximately 1,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion.