nebula · Orion · a plate in Stars
M42
Messier 42 · NGC 1976
In 1774 Charles Messier published a list of objects that were not comets. The 42nd was this faint patch in Orion.
The sword of the hunter. Birth, not ending, in the place catalogs numbered 42.
Astronomy · astrophysics
- Magnitude
- about 4.0 (extended)
- Distance
- about 1,344 light-years
- Spectrum
- H II region
- Coordinates
- 5h 35m · −5° 27′
The Trapezium at the core. A stellar nursery, not a single sun.
M42 is the Great Orion Nebula. An H II region at about 1,344 ly. Visible as a fuzzy patch in Orion’s sword under decent skies.
One of the nearest massive star-forming regions. The Trapezium cluster ionizes the gas.
Historical story · observation
An object that was not a comet
- 1774Charles Messier published a list of objects that were not comets. The 42nd was this faint patch in Orion. The number is a catalog number. It remains a catalog number.
Living
A nursery at position 42. The Book lets the catalog number remain a catalog number, and still sit in the choir.
Birthplace as threshold: Trilogy III, Entry 9.
Sources
- Messier 1774
- SIMBAD
- Hubble / JWST imaging papers
Choir
Rotanev · SualocinSiriusIzar · PulcherrimaThubanCapellaRigelMeropeTolimanM42Jupiter · IoSpicaFomalhautArcturusAlhenaCanopusWorking choir · not a planetarium