Under very dark skies, the Orion Nebula is visible to the unaided eye
Under very dark skies, the Orion Nebula is visible to the unaided eye. It appears as a fuzzy patch of light near the three stars that make up Orion's belt.
This region of gas and dust, known as a nebula, is near the belt stars and reflects their light. The excited molecules in the gas emit some light on their own, too. Dark regions are loaded with space dust, mostly carbon, that don't reflect much light.
The picture was made earlier this month
by amateur astrophotographer Peter Spokes, with the help of a professional astronomer
at a nightly observing program at the Kitt
Peak National Observatory.
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: Peter Spokes/Adam
Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
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