“Breathtaking” images of a stellar nursery in the Orion Nebula taken by the James Webb Space Telescope are revealing intricate details about how stars and planetary systems form.

This work in progress is situated in the Orion Nebula, a luminous cloud of interstellar gas and dust about 1,500 light-years away. Its star is about 1 million years old—a baby, in astronomy terms.

The star itself lies on the outskirts of the Orion Nebula, roughly 1000 light-years away from the Earth. You can see the outflows along the top and bottom of the new Orion photo captured by Hubble.

The Orion Nebula is located just 1,350 light-years away from Earth. Because of its relative closeness to Earth, the star-bearing nebula has been a study point for astronomers for decades.

It’s one of the most incredible naked eye sites in the night sky—and it’s now been imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The Orion Nebula—also known as M42—is a stellar ...

The Orion Nebula as seen through the Hubble Space Telescope (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope (right). NASA, ESA, CSA, PDRs4All ERS Team; image processing Olivier Berné.

Roughly 1,300 light years away, the Orion Nebula can sometimes be seen with the naked eye from Earth. Now, researchers have captured the most detailed images of the gigantic nebula to date.

This infrared image of the Orion Nebula features plenty of dust, but no stars. In these infrared wavelengths, it’s possible to see hotspots where new stars are forming.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a bright variable star, V 372 Orionis, and its companion in this festive image in this image released on Jan. 27, 2023. The pair lie in the Orion Nebula, a ...

The James Webb Space Telescope's latest image: the Orion Nebula NASA, ESA, CSA, PDRs4All ERS Team, S. Fuenmayor With its recognizable belt of three stars, Orion is one of the best known ...

The smaller nebula is almost perfectly circular and was named the Cow Nebula. This article was originally published on Jan. 6, 2022 Learn Something New Every Day ...