How to see it
Many people are familiar with Orion, the gem of all constellations, and the showpiece of the winter sky. The three stars of Orion’s Belt jump out at you midway between Orion’s two brightest stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel, and are often used to locate the Great Orion Nebula (M42). Look for the Orion Nebula a short distance beneath Orion’s Belt, to the northwest (upper right) of the star Saiph and to the northeast (upper left) of the star Rigel.
As a general rule, the higher Orion is in the sky, the easier it is to see the Orion Nebula. Orion is due south and highest in the sky around midnight in middle December. The stars return to the same place in the sky some 4 minutes earlier each night, or 2 hours earlier each month. So look for Orion to be highest up around 10 p.m. in mid-January and 8 p.m. in mid-February.
Most nebulae – clouds of interstellar gas and dust – are difficult if not impossible to see with the unaided eye or even binoculars. But the Orion Nebula is in a class nearly all by itself. It’s visible to the unaided eye on a dark, moonless night. To me, it looks like a star encased in a globe of luminescent fog. The dark-sky aficionado Stephen James O’Meara sees it as “angel’s breath against a frosted sky.”
In a dark country sky observe the Orion Nebula for yourself to see what it looks like. A backyard telescope, or even binoculars do wonders to showcase one of the greatest celestial treasures in the winter sky.
Science
According to modern astronomy, the Orion Nebula is an enormous cloud of gas and dust residing roughly 1,300 light-years away. At some 30 to 40 light-years in diameter, this great big nebulous cocoon is giving birth to perhaps a thousand stars, with the light of some of the cluster’s young, hot stars illuminating this vast molecular cloud. These stars are only a million or so years old – mere babes in the lifetime of a star.
Some of the stars of this cluster can be seen through a telescope, but most of the stars in this emerging cluster are veiled behind the Orion Nebula, the great stellar nursery in Orion’s Sword.
Orion Nebula’s position is Right Ascension: 5h 35.4m; Declination: 5o 27′ south
thank you for the discripstion on how to see orions nebula it was very pleaseing to see it for the first time.i will look foward to seeing more.once again imust thank you.
wanna want info about orion nebula
no help at all
I have seen Orion nebula glowing brightly under the small telescope and it really was mesmerizing to see it. It looks like a smudge of paint that has been spilled but was glowing..^_^
It was exhilarating to find out that these can be seen through the naked eye as well on a dark evening sky without the moon and it was one of the things I had learned in my early years in astronomy. I thank you much for giving us more details about it which was a big help for us.
More power Earthsky!