BURN AND BORN The Great Nebula in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the most famous nebulas in the sky. The star forming region’s glowing gas clouds and hot young stars are on the right in this sharp and colorful image that includes the smaller nebula M43 near center and dusty, bluish reflection nebulae NGC 1977 and friends on the left. Located at the edge of an otherwise invisible giant molecular cloud complex, these eye-catching nebulae represent only a small fraction of this galactic neighborhood’s wealth of interstellar material. (Photo: Jesús Vargas & Maritxu Poyal via NASA APOD)
