Orion Nebula
Where is the Orion Nebula?
Look south, about 33° up at 05:17 in Orion. It rises at 00:02 and climbs through the night.
- Rises
- 00:02
- Highest
- 05:37
- Sets
- 11:13
- Best after dark
- 05:17 · 33°
Can I see the Orion Nebula tonight?
From London tonight, the Orion Nebula is above the horizon after dark. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the south at 33°.
At magnitude 4.0, with its light spread over an area of sky, it can be seen by eye from a dark site; light pollution hides it quickly.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does the Orion Nebula look like?
Eyes
The middle “star” of Orion’s Sword looks fuzzy, even from suburbs.
Binoculars
A small, bright cloud with stars embedded in it.
Telescope
A glowing, wing-shaped cloud. At 50× or more, the four stars of the Trapezium are easy to see. Visually it looks gray-green; the reds in photos need a camera.
About the Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula is the brightest nebula in the night sky and the closest large region of star birth to Earth, about 1,350 light-years away. You can see it with your own eyes as a fuzzy “star” in Orion’s Sword.
It is a huge cloud of gas and dust, lit up by a small group of young, hot stars at its heart called the Trapezium. Their ultraviolet light makes the surrounding hydrogen glow.
Hundreds of new stars have formed here in the last few million years, many still surrounded by disks of material that may one day form planets.
In 1880, Henry Draper took the first photograph of the Orion Nebula, also the first photograph of any nebula. Hubble images later revealed dozens of young stars wrapped in disks of gas and dust, the raw material of planets.
The bright part of the nebula is about 24 light-years across. Just north of it, separated by a dark lane, is a smaller glow called M43.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Can I see the Orion Nebula from a city?
Why doesn’t it look pink like in photos?
What is the Trapezium?
Sources: SkyMate; OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences