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M42 and the other emission nebula in the universe are stellar nurseries, where gas and dust are condensing into new stars. M42 was cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1769. It was the 42nd object cataloged by Messier, thus the designation "M42".
Visually, M42 can be observed with the naked eye in areas with dark skies - it is seen as a fuzzy, gray blob in the middle of the "sword" hanging below the prominent triple star "belt" in the constellation Orion. It can be seen with binoculars even in moderately light-polluted skies, and small amateur telescopes make it out easily from most earthly locations. But the human eye lacks sensitivity to low levels of color, so even with the largest telescopes under the darkest skies the nebula appears to be grey.
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