Orion Nebula Cluster

The Great Nebula in Orion is one of the closest major star-forming regions to the Solar System. It is located at a distance of about 415 parsecs (1350 light years; Menten 2007) in the direction of Orion's Sword. Its most productive nurseries are wrapped in the hydrogen clouds of the Orion Nebula Cluster, also known as M 42 and NGC 1976. This luminous region, as captured in the image above by the Hubble Space Telescope, extends for a radius of about 9 parsecs (30 light years). It contains the bright young Trapezium Cluster.