The Orion Nebula  (AKA: M42) is a diffuse nebula in the Milky Way situated south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion, and is known as the middle "star" in the "sword" of Orion.

It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. It's 1400 light-years away and 35 light-years across.

The entirety of the Orion Nebula extends across a 1° region of the sky, and includes neutral clouds of gas and dust, associations of stars, ionized volumes of gas, and reflection nebulae.

The Orion Nebula is part of a much larger nebula known as the Orion molecular cloud complex, which extends throughout the constellation of Orion and includes Barnard's Loop, the Horsehead Nebula, M43, M78, and the Flame Nebula.