Surely this is the most spectacular of deep-sky objects for viewers in the northern hemisphere, known to be a nebula since the invention of the telescope, and even before then as a "fuzzy star".

Orion's "Great Nebula" has something for every astronomical taste. Double stars a specialty? Try to see every possible member of Theta, the famous "Trapezium": 5 or 6 should be visible. Do you like photography or CCDs? Countless thousands of images of M-42 have been made since Henry Draper's first photograph in 1882. Love colorful sights? M-42 is one of the few nebulae that has perceptible hues with direct vision through a 10-inch or larger scope: sensitive eyes can detect not only bright white plus pale blue and green, but also a bit of light pink and yellow. Like to track down faint objects? Trace out the 'Herschel loop' in the vast bowl of nebulosity; then pull back to an ultra-wide field to follow 'Barnard's Loop' around Orion's major stars. Want to show off your scope? There is no better sight to share than M-42!

Comments from John Sanford's "OBSERVING THE CONSTELLATIONS":

"The centerpoint of Orion must be the Great Nebula...one of the few emission nebulae that can be seen with the naked eye. It is a slight fuzzy gleam in the 'sword' of Orion. Any optical aid will show a greenish or gray glow around a central star, the famous Trapezium... As optical power (aperture and magnification) increases, the amount of detail brought forth becomes astounding...Most long-exposure photographs are 'burned-in' over the bright areas and some don't show the Trapezium at all...the best photos have not only the exquisite outer detail but manage to show the Trapezium and the small stars around it ...the whole area is sprinkled with small stars, many of which are known to be 'dust variables' which flicker as dust swirls in and out of their newly born atmospheres... the whole figure of Orion is alight with faint nebulous light coming from gas excited by the hot young stars within the association."

Try, if you can, to make a varied study of M-42, with drawings and notes. Compare naked-eye views with binoculars or a beginner's scope; then step to a richest-field 6-8" model (being sure to use an LPR or nebular filter for improved contrast, especially in light-polluted skies.) With a modern extra-wide-field ocular in a 15-20" monster scope, you may feel like you're staring from the deck of a starship at an unimaginably vast and stunning vista!

PICTURE NO. 1 (left): Drawing of M-42 by Jaakko Saloranta, done with the aid of an 8" f/4.5 Dobsonian scope. He has outlined the farthest extent of the nebulosity he could see. Waldee has inverted the picture for a negative view.

PICTURE NO. 2 (middle left): M-42 looks very much like this in author Waldee's similar 8" f/5.2 Newtonian scope, using low power with a wide-field ocular and a 6mm exit pupil, at a naked eye stellar limit of about 5th magnitude, with some light pollution. An effort was made to include the four brightest members of the Trapezium.

PICTURE NO. 3 (middle right): If a hydrogen/oxygen-line general narrowband nebular filter (UHC type) is added, fainter nebulosity and higher contrast are obtained in the central "bowl" of the nebula, at the expense of some dimming of the stars. If an O-III filter is used, the large, faint outer halo of nebulosity may sometimes be glimpsed.

PICTURE NO. 4 (far right): Made with Ron Wood's home-built 8" f/5.2 photographic scope, this image is in spectacular color from his prime focus exposure of 30 minutes, using a Newtonian off-axis guider and LPR filter, with forming-gas-hypered Kodak Ektapress 1600 film.