American amateur astronomer Henry Draper was the first to photograph the nebula on September 30, 1880. Image: ESO/J. About half the member stars have evaporating circumstellar disks, which means that planetary systems may soon form in their orbits.The Trapezium Cluster is suspected to be a component of the Orion Nebula Cluster, a larger association of about 2,000 stars spanning an area approximately 20 light years in diameter.In 2012, a team of astronomers suggested that the cluster may contain an intermediate black hole, more than 100 times as massive as the Sun, at its centre.The majestic Orion Nebula imaged with the 2.2m ESO/MPG telescope. Recent estimates, however, have revealed it to be probaly somewhat closer, at 1,350 (1,300 to 1,400) light-years. Huggins noted:The light from the brightest parts of the nebula near the trapezium was resolved by the prisms into three bright lines, in all respects similar to those of the gaseous nebulae, and which are described in my former paper.These three lines, indicative of gaseity, appeared (when the slit of the apparatus was made narrow) very sharply defined and free from nebulosity; the intervals between the lines were quite dark.When either of the four stars Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta Trapezii was brought upon the slit, a continous spectrum of considerable brightness, and nearly linear (the cylindrical lens of the apparatus having been removed), was seen, together with the bright lines of the nebula, which were of considerable length, corresponding to the length of the slit. It lies at a distance of 1,344 light years from Earth and is the nearest stellar nursery to Earth.

Nicolas Claude Fabri De Peiresc And The Discovery Of Orion. A nebulous matter, diffused in such exuberance throughout the regions of space, must surely draw our attention to the purpose for which it may probably exist; and it must be the business of a critical inquirer to attend to all the appearances under which it will be exposed to his view in the following observations.The majestic Orion Nebula imaged with the 2.2m ESO/MPG telescope. As the fast stellar wind runs into slow moving gas a shock front is formed, analogous to the bow wave of a boat moving through water or a plane traveling at supersonic speed. THE DISTANCE OF THE ORION NEBULA* By Robert J. Trumpler The fainter stars situated in the central part of the Orion nebula, in the immediate neighborhood of the Trapezium, form a well-marked cluster quite comparable with other galactic star clusters; for convenience we may call it the Trapezium cluster. He observed the nebulous region using a refracting telescope.In 1619, the Swiss Jesuit astronomer and mathematician Johann Baptist Cysat observed the nebula and compared it to a bright comet discovered in 1618. Image: ESOThis wide-field view of the Orion Nebula (Messier 42), lying about 1350 light-years from Earth, was taken with the VISTA infrared survey telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The small, arcing, graceful structure just above and left of center is LL Ori’s cosmic bow shock, measuring about half a light-year across. They have also detected over 150 protoplanetary disks, or proplyds, which are believed to be embryonic solar systems that will eventually form planets. Ptolemy catalogued the nebula as a single bright star in 130 AD, as did Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century and German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603.

More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. The distance of the Orion Nebula was longly estimated at about 1,500 to 1,600 light-years.

This image was created from images taken through Z, J and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum.