44 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2020
The most observed emission nebula
in the Northern Hemisphere is the
famed Orion Nebula (M42), lying
some 1,300 light-years away. Visible
to the naked eye as a misty spot of
stars, this cloud of gas is forming an
infant star cluster, the four brightest
of which are called the Trapezium.
This wide-field view shows the Orion
Nebula at left with bluish reflection
nebulae around it, the brightest of
which is NGC 1973–5–7, at right.
TONY HALLAS