Believed to be the cosmic fire of creation by the Maya of Mesoamerica, M42 blazes brightly in the constellation Orion. Popularly called the Orion Nebula, this stellar nursery has been known to many different cultures throughout human history. The nebula is only 1,500 light-years away, making it the closest large star-forming region to Earth making it relatively bright. Because of its brightness and prominent location just below Orion’s belt, M42 can be spotted with the naked eye, while offering an excellent peek at stellar birth for those with telescopes. It is best observed during January. The Mayan culture’s likening of the Orion Nebula to a cosmic fire of creation is very apt. The nebula is an enormous cloud of dust and gas where vast numbers of new stars are being forged. Its bright, central region is the home of four massive, young stars that shape the nebula. The four hefty stars are called the Trapezium because they are arranged in a trapezoidal pattern. Ultraviolet light unleashed by these stars is carving a cavity in the nebula and disrupting the growth of hundreds of smaller stars.
The Cone Nebula, or NGC 2264, is a dark nebula located 2,500 lightyears away in the Monoceros constellation. The nebula is 7 lightyears long and is packed full of dense gas and dust - the ingredients necessary for star formation - making it a perfect stellar factory. This tempestuous deep-sky region contains scorching hot young stars that are eroding and carving out the dark nebula, also emitting blasts of powerful ultraviolet light that can be seen illuminating the edges of the dense cosmic cloud. The NGC 2264 region also contains an open star cluster known as the Christmas Tree Cluster, as it forms a sparkling triangular shape that makes it look rather like a festive fir.
