The Orion Nebula [AKA "The Great Turkey Nebula"]: Wide View | NOIRLab

The Orion Nebula [AKA "The Great Turkey Nebula"]: Wide View | NOIRLab

Happy Thanksgiving, All! | Note: "AKA" is an abbreviation for "also known as".

"It is not Thanksgiving without turkey!" 

Although there is no official deep-sky object bearing the "Great Turkey Nebula" name, observers like to imagine the famous Orion Nebula (M42) as the "Great Turkey Nebula".

M42 is the most famous of all nebulae. Galileo missed this object entirely, but William Herschel had the eerie foresight to call it "the chaotic material of future suns." It is a star forming region all right, one of the closest at a mere 1,600 lightyears. There is enough material here for 10,000 stars like the sun. The bright central region is an irregular cloud about six lightyears across. Four stars in the center (the Trapezium) have recently formed and provide the energy to light up the nebula. You can find this object in the Sword of Orion, just under the three famous belt stars. Binoculars are enough.

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Ryan Steinberg and Family/Adam Block

Release Date: June 7, 2014

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