These images show the Great Orion Nebula M42 (NGC 1976) together with its smaller neighbor, De Mairan's Nebula M43 (NGC 1982), which is actually a part of the Great Nebula. These bright nebulae are actually the brightest part of a huge cloud of interstellar gas and dust which is several hundred light years across.

[M42, KPNO]

The Great Orion Nebula, M42 (NGC 1976), is shown in its full size, together with its smaller neighbor, M43 (NGC 1982). The image size is about 66 by 60 arc minutes, and the image is displayed with South up and East right, as it would appear in an astronomical telescope.

The central part of M42 is overexposed so that the Trapezium cluster is not visible in this image. Close inspection of the hi-res image shows some transparency film effects in and near the overexposed part.

This image is a color exposure, obtained by Bill Schoening with the 4-meter Mayall telescope of Kitt Peak National Observatory, on October 1, 1973, using Kodak Ektachrome film.
Credit: Bill Schoening/NOAO/AURA/NSF

  • Hi-res version of this image
  • More information on this image (N.A Sharp, NOAO)

    [M42, KPNO]

    Older reproduction of a KPNO image of M42 and M43. North is up, East left.

  • More NOAO images

    [M42, Kohle/Credner]

    This image was obtained by Sven Kohle and Till Credner of Bonn, Germany on October 26, 1995 at 4:19 UT with the 1.23-meter telescope of the Calar Alto observatory at f/4, exposed 10 minutes with a 2048x2048 WWFPP CCD camera and H-alpha filter. The field of view is 21' x 21'. The image is copyrighted by the observers.

  • More images by Till Credner and Sven Kohle.

    [M42, anonymous source] [PNG]

    Image of the Great Orion Nebula, M42 and M43, from an anonymous source

  • 2MASS image of M42 and M43
  • Amateur images of M42 and M43
  • Images of the M42/43 region with NGC 1973-5-7; amateur images

    Hartmut Frommert
    Christine Kronberg
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    Last Modification: June 27, 1998