This nebula (Messier 42) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion, and is known as the middle “star” in the “sword” of Orion. In 1610 French astronomer Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc made the first recorded observation of the Orion Nebula. In 1618, Swiss astronomer Johann Baptist Cysat also observed the nebula; and by 1659, Christiaan Huygens made the first detailed study of it using his improved telescope which incorporated new methods of grinding and polishing lenses.
The Orion Nebula was the first nebula to be photographed (in 1880 by Henry Draper).
Viewing Location – My Backyard
- Lat/Lon: 34.11065, -117.65362
- Sky Magnitude: 18.45 magnitudes/square arcsecond
- Sky Luminance: 4.50 mcd/m2
- Bortle Scale: 7 (suburban/urban transition)…which is pretty awful for star-gazing, but it’s only 20ft from my patio… so it’s convenient. Equal to a Sky Magnitude between 18.94–18.38.
Observation
- Catalog Designation: M42/NGC 1976
- Celestial Coordinates: RA 05h 35m 17.3s | Dec −05° 23′ 28″
- Observation Duration: 1 night, 466 x 10sec = 77.67 minutes
- CCD temperature in degrees Celsius: 23
USE IMAGE SLIDER TO SHOW/HIDE ANNOTATIONS
Annotations provided by Astrometry.net through an automated process of “plate solving”.
ZOOM – FULL SCREEN
Surrounding Constellation – Orion
Here’s a map showing where my photograph of M42 fits in the larger stellar field.
