One of the most truly spectacular objects in the entire sky is the celebrated Orion Nebula, a star-birth factory 1,300 light-years from Earth. It's so bright that it can be seen with the naked eye; it looks like a star, the middle of three that form Orion's "dagger" that hangs down from his Belt. With a telescope it reveals itself to be a brilliant and colorful display of hot gas a couple of dozen light-years across.
Published on September 14, 2022 06:00