We explain what the Orion Nebula is, some of its characteristics and how was its discovery of this nebula.
What is the Orion Nebula?
It is known as the Orion Nebula, also called Messier 42, M42 or NGC-1976, one of the nebulae brightest that exist in the sky observable from the Earth, located right in the constellation of Orion, about 1270 to 1276 light years from our planet. It has a diameter of 24 light years and is one of the most studied and photographed astronomical objects of all time, visible to the naked eye in some regions of the planet.
It should be clarified that a nebula is a region of space in which large masses of gas (hydrogen and helium, mostly) bind together with other chemical elements that make up the cosmic dust. In many cases, these nebulae are the birthplace of stars, due to the effects of condensation and gravitational pull. But they can also be remains of stars extinct.
The Orion Nebula is part of a huge gaseous cloud located in the heart of the constellation of the same name, and which also feeds the Barnard Loop, the Horsehead Nebula, the Mairan Nebula, the M78 Nebula and the Nebula of the Flame.In its bosom there is a high production of stars, so that the dominant light spectrum is the infrared, due to the caloric emission of this process. In addition, its shape is almost spherical, reaching a density central almost twice as much as its periphery, and is composed of stellar clouds, star clusters, H II regions and reflection nebulae. At its peak, it reaches a maximum temperature of about 10,000 degrees Kelvin (K).
The name of the Orion Nebula comes from the constellation where it is found, an inheritance in turn from the Greek mythology. In it, different versions of the life of Orion were told, a great hunter mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, and to whom various mythical feats are attributed, as well as his death before a gigantic scorpion (immortalized, in turn, in the constellation of scorpio).
Discovery of the Orion Nebula
According to many sources, ancient mayans They would have noticed the celestial region where this nebula is located, which they called Xibalbá. According to his imagination, the gas cloud evidenced the presence of the furnaces of creation.
The West discovered the Orion Nebula in 1610 and it is attributed to the Frenchman Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, as written by Cysatus de Lucerna, a Jesuit astronomer from 1618. Much later it would be included in the Catalog of Astronomical Objects of Charles Messier in 1771, corresponding to the name of M42.
Its nebulous character would not be discovered until 1865, thanks to the spectroscopy of William Huggins, and in 1880 his first astrophotography, the work of Henry Draper, would be published. The first observation direct from the nebula was a product of telescope Hubble spacecraft in 1993, thanks to which (and his numerous subsequent observations) even subsequent three-dimensional models have been made.