Editing Orion Nebula (section)

==History==
[[File:M42m.jpg|thumb|left|Messier's drawing of the Orion Nebula in his 1771 memoir, ''Mémoires de l'Académie Royale'']]
There has been speculation that the [[Maya civilization|Mayans]] of [[Central America]] may have described the nebula within their "Three Hearthstones" creation myth; if so, the three would correspond to two stars at the base of Orion, [[Rigel]] and [[Saiph]], and another, [[Alnitak]] at the southern (left) tip of the "hunter's belt", which together form the vertices of a nearly perfect equilateral triangle, the same shape as traditional Mayan [[Hearth|hearths]].<ref name="Krupp1999" /> Near the center of the triangle is [[Orion's Sword]] (including the Orion Nebula), which ancient Mayan mythology regarded as the literal or figurative embers of a fiery creation smoldering at the center of the hearth.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Carrasco|editor1-first=David|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican cultures : the civilizations of Mexico and Central America|date=2001|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-19-514257-0|page=165|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9I3rAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Krupp1999">{{cite journal| last = Krupp | first = Edward | date = February 1999 | title = Igniting the Hearth | journal = [[Sky & Telescope]] | pages = 94 | url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/access/886319051.html?dids=886319051:886319051&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:PAGE&date=Feb+1999&author=E+C+Krupp&desc=Igniting+the+Hearth | access-date = October 19, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071211030815/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/access/886319051.html?dids=886319051:886319051&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:PAGE&date=Feb+1999&author=E+C+Krupp&desc=Igniting+the+Hearth | archive-date = December 11, 2007}}</ref> Similarly, modern [[Lacandon Maya]] regard it as smoke from [[copal]] incense.<ref name="Krupp1999" />

Neither [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Almagest]]'' nor [[Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi|al Sufi]]'s ''[[Book of Fixed Stars]]'' noted this nebula, even though they both listed patches of nebulosity elsewhere in the night sky; nor did [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] mention it, even though he also made telescopic observations surrounding it in 1610 and 1617.<ref name="James">{{cite web | last = James | first = Andrew | date = June 27, 2012 | url = http://www.southastrodel.com/Page204.htm | title = The Great Orion Nebula: M42 & M43 | publisher = Southern Astronomical Delights | access-date = June 27, 2012 }}</ref> This has led to some speculation that a flare-up of the illuminating stars may have increased the brightness of the nebula.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Tibor Herczeg | first = Norman | date = January 22, 1999 | url = http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~pbrosche/aa/acta/vol03/acta03_246.html | title = The Orion Nebula: A chapter of early nebular studies | journal = Acta Historica Astronomiae | volume = 3 | pages = 246 | access-date = October 27, 2006 | bibcode = 1998AcHA....3..246H }}</ref>

The first discovery of the diffuse nebulous nature of the Orion Nebula is generally credited to French astronomer [[Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc]], on November 26, 1610, when he recorded observing it with a [[refracting telescope]] purchased by his patron [[Guillaume du Vair]].<ref name="James"/>

The first published observation of the nebula was by the Jesuit mathematician and astronomer [[Johann Baptist Cysat]] of [[Lucerne]] in his 1619 monograph on the comets (describing observations of the nebula that may date back to 1611).<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Discoverer of the Great Nebula in Orion|journal=[[Scientific American]]|date=June 10, 1916|volume=114|page=615|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98sxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA615}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite journal| first1 = W. | last1 = Lynn
 | date = June 1887
 | title = First Discovery of The Great Nebula in Orion
 | journal = The Observatory
 | volume = 10
 | pages = 232
 | bibcode = 1887Obs....10R.232L
 }}
</ref> He made comparisons between it and a bright [[comet]] seen in 1618, describing how the nebula appeared through his telescope:

{{Blockquote|One sees how in like manner some stars are compressed into a very narrow space and how round about and between the stars a white light like that of a white cloud is poured out.<ref name=Schreiber>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hTyAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA101|last=Schreiber|first=John|title=Jesuit Astronomy|journal=[[Popular Astronomy (US magazine)|Popular Astronomy]]|volume=12|date=1904|page=101}}</ref>}}

His description of the center stars as different from a comet's head in that they were a "rectangle" may have been an early description of the [[Trapezium Cluster]].<ref name="James" /><ref name=Schreiber /><ref>
{{Cite journal
 | first1 = Thomas G. | last1 = Harrison
 | date = 1984
 | title = The Orion Nebula: Where in History is it?
 | journal = [[Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
 | volume = 25 | pages = 71
 | bibcode = 1984QJRAS..25...65H
 }}</ref> (The first detection of three of the four stars of this cluster is credited to [[Galileo Galilei]] on February 4, 1617.<ref name="Bard">{{cite web|last=Galilei|first=Galileo|title=The Starry Messenger|date=October 9, 2003|language=English|location=Hudson, New York|url=http://www.bard.edu/admission/forms/pdfs/galileo.pdf|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040706125127/http://www.bard.edu/admission/forms/pdfs/galileo.pdf|archivedate=July 6, 2004|accessdate=January 12, 2023}}</ref>
<ref name="Original">{{cite web|last=Galilei|first=Galileo|title=Siderius Nuncius|location=[[Venice]], [[Italy]]|year=1610|url=http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/g/galilei/sidereus_nuncius/html/sidereus.htm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000829044604/http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/g/galilei/sidereus_nuncius/html/sidereus.htm|archivedate=August 29, 2000|accessdate=January 12, 2023}}</ref>){{primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

The nebula was independently "discovered" (though visible to the naked eye) by several other prominent astronomers in the following years, including by [[Giovanni Battista Hodierna]] (whose sketch was the first published in ''[[De systemate orbis cometici, deque admirandis coeli characteribus]]'').<ref>
{{cite web
 |last1=Frommert |first1=H.
 |last2=Kronberg  |first2=C.
 |date=August 25, 2007
 |title=Hodierna's Deep Sky Observations
 |url=http://messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/hodierna.html
 |publisher=[[SEDS]]
 |access-date=August 11, 2015
}}</ref> In 1659, Dutch scientist [[Christiaan Huygens]] published the first detailed drawing of the central region of the nebula in ''Systema Saturnium''.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Lachieze-Rey|editor1-first=Marc|title=Celestial Treasury: From the Music of the Spheres to the Conquest of Space|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge [u.a.]|isbn=9780521800402|page=153}}</ref>

[[Charles Messier]] observed the nebula on March 4, 1769, and he also noted three of the stars in Trapezium. Messier published the first edition of his catalog of deep sky objects in 1774 (completed in 1771).<ref>
{{Cite journal
 | first1 = Charles | last1 = Messier
 | date = 1774
 | url = http://messier.seds.org/xtra/history/m-cat71.html
 | title = Catalogue des Nébuleuses & des amas d'Étoiles, que l'on découvre parmi les Étoiles fixes sur l'horizon de Paris; observées à l'Observatoire de la Marine, avec différens instruments
 | journal = Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences
 }}</ref> As the Orion Nebula was the 42nd object in his list, it became identified as M42.
 
[[File:Orion Nebula - Drawing - John Herschel -1847 - rotated by 180°.jpg|thumb|[[John Herschel|Herschel's]] drawing of the nebula as seen from the southern hemisphere as part of his survey of the visible heavens, 1835.]]
[[John Herschel]] conducted the first survey of the nebula as seen from the southern hemisphere in the period between 1834 to 1838. The Orion Nebula was observed and charted as part of Herschel's survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens starting in 1825, the southern hemisphere observations conducted from a private 21 ft (6.4 m) telescope in what is today [[Cape Town|Cape Town, South Africa]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Great Nebula in Orion as seen in the 20 feet Reflector at Feldhausen - Cape of Good Hope {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8565878/the-great-nebula-in-orion-as-seen-in-the-20-feet-reflector-at-feldhausen-cape-of-good-hope |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nasim |first=Omar W. |date=2011-03-01 |title=The ‘Landmark’ and ‘Groundwork’ of stars: John Herschel, photography and the drawing of nebulae |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039368110000981 |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=67–84 |doi=10.1016/j.shpsa.2010.11.019 |issn=0039-3681}}</ref> 

[[File:Henry Drape Orion nebula 1880 inverted.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Henry Draper]]'s 1880 photograph of the Orion Nebula, the first ever taken.]]
[[File:Orion-Nebula A A Common.jpg|thumb|200px|One of Andrew Ainslie Common's 1883 photographs of the Orion Nebula, the first to show that a long exposure could record new stars and nebulae invisible to the human eye.]]

In 1865, English [[amateur astronomer]] [[William Huggins]] used his visual [[spectroscopy]] method to examine the nebula, showing that it, like other nebulae he had examined, was made up of "luminous gas".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Becker |first=Barbara J. |date=1993 |title=Eclecticism, Opportunism, and the Evolution of a New Research Agenda: William and Margaret Huggins and the Origins of Astrophysics |type=PhD |chapter=Chapter 2—Part 3: Unlocking the "Unknown Mystery of the True Nature of the Heavenly Bodies" |chapter-url=http://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/huggins/ch2c.html |access-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> On September 30, 1880, [[Henry Draper]] used the new [[dry plate]] photographic process with an {{Convert|11|in|cm|abbr=out|adj=on}} [[refracting telescope]] to make a 51-minute exposure of the Orion Nebula, the first instance of [[astrophotography]] of a nebula in history. Another breakthrough in astronomical photography occurred in 1883, when amateur astronomer [[Andrew Ainslie Common]] used the dry plate process to record several images in exposures up to 60 minutes with a {{Convert|36|in|cm|abbr=out|adj=on}} [[reflecting telescope]] that he constructed in the backyard of his home in [[Ealing]], west London. These images, for the first time, showed stars and nebula detail too faint to be seen by the human eye.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hearnshaw|first1=J.B.|url=https://archive.org/details/measurementofsta0000hear|url-access=registration|title=The Measurement of Starlight: Two Centuries Of Astronomical Photometry|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780521403931|page=[https://archive.org/details/measurementofsta0000hear/page/122 122]|access-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

In 1902, [[Hermann Carl Vogel|Vogel]] and Eberhard discovered differing velocities within the nebula, and by 1914 astronomers at [[Marseille]] had used the interferometer to detect rotation and irregular motions. Campbell and Moore confirmed these results using the spectrograph, demonstrating turbulence within the nebula.<ref>
{{Cite journal
 | display-authors = 1 
 | first1 = W. W. | last1 = Campbell
 | first2 = J. H. | last2 = Moore
 | date = 1917
 | title = On the Radial Velocities of the Orion Nebula
 | journal = [[Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific]]
 | volume = 29 | issue = 169 | pages = 143
 | bibcode = 1917PASP...29..143C
 | doi = 10.1086/122612
| doi-access = free
 }}</ref>

In 1931, [[Robert Julius Trumpler|Robert J. Trumpler]] noted that the fainter stars near the Trapezium formed a cluster, and he was the first to name them the "[[Trapezium Cluster]]". Based on their magnitudes and spectral types, he derived a distance estimate of 1,800 light years. This was three times farther than the commonly accepted distance estimate of the period but was much closer to the modern value.<ref>
{{Cite journal
 | last1 = Trumpler | first1 = Robert Julius
 | date = 1931
 | title = The Distance of the Orion Nebula
 | journal = [[Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific]]
 | volume = 43 | issue = 254 | pages = 255
 | bibcode = 1931PASP...43..255T
 | doi = 10.1086/124134
| doi-access = free
 }}</ref>

In 1993, the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (HST) first observed the Orion Nebula. Since then, the nebula has been a frequent target for HST studies. The images have been used to build a detailed model of the nebula in three dimensions. [[Protoplanetary disk]]s have been observed around most of the newly formed stars in the nebula, and the destructive effects of high levels of [[ultraviolet]] energy from the most massive stars have been studied.<ref name="salisbury">{{Cite web|first=David F.|last=Salisbury|date=10 April 2001|url=http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu/news/news_orion.htm|title=Latest investigations of Orion Nebula reduce odds of planet formation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060527091822/http://www.exploration.vanderbilt.edu/news/news_orion.htm|archive-date=27 May 2006}}</ref>

In 2005, the ''Advanced Camera for Surveys'' instrument of the Hubble Space Telescope finished capturing the most detailed image of the nebula yet taken. The image was taken through 104 orbits of the telescope, capturing over 3,000 stars down to the 23rd magnitude, including infant [[brown dwarf]]s and possible brown dwarf [[binary star]]s.<ref>
{{Cite journal
 |last1=Robberto |first1=M.
 |last2=O'Dell |first2=R. C.
 |last3=Hillenbrand |first3=L. A.
 |last4=Simon |first4=M.
 |last5=Soderblom |first5=D.
 |last6=Feigelson |first6=E.
 |last7=Krist |first7=J.
 |last8=McCullough |first8=P.
 |last9=Meyer |first9=M.
 |last10=Makidon |first10=R.
 |last11=Najita |first11=J.
 |last12=Panagia |first12=N.
 |last13=Palla |first13=F.
 |last14=Romaniello |first14=M.
 |last15=Reid |first15=I. N.
 |last16=Stauffer |first16=J.
 |last17=Stassun |first17=K.
 |last18=Smith |first18=K.
 |last19=Sherry |first19=B.
 |last20=Bergeron |first20=L. E.
 |last21=Kozhurina-Platais |first21=V.
 |last22=McMaster |first22=M.
 |last23=Villaver |first23=E.
 |display-authors=1
 |date=2005
 |title=An overview of the HST Treasury Program on the Orion Nebula
 |journal=[[Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society]]
 |volume=37
 |pages=1404
 |bibcode = 2005AAS...20714601R
}} See also see the [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2006/01/text/ NASA press release].</ref> A year later, scientists working with the HST announced the first ever masses of a pair of eclipsing binary brown dwarfs, [[2MASS J05352184–0546085]]. The pair are located in the Orion Nebula and have approximate masses of {{Solar mass|link=y|0.054}} and {{Solar mass|0.034}} respectively, with an orbital period of 9.8 days. Surprisingly, the more massive of the two also turned out to be the less luminous.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |display-authors=1|author=K. G. Stassun |author2= R. D. Mathieu |author3=J. A. Valenti
  |name-list-style=amp |date=2006
 |title=Discovery of two young brown dwarfs in an eclipsing binary system
 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]
 |volume=440 |issue=7082 |pages=311–314
 |doi=10.1038/nature04570
|bibcode = 2006Natur.440..311S |pmid=16541067|s2cid=4310407 }}</ref>

In October 2023, astronomers, based on observations of the Orion Nebula with the [[James Webb Space Telescope]], reported the discovery of ''pairs'' of [[rogue planet]]s, similar in mass to the planet [[Jupiter]], and called [[Jupiter Mass Binary Objects|JuMBOs]] (Jupiter Mass Binary Objects).<ref name="NYT-20231002">{{cite news |last=O’Callaghan |first=Jonathan|title=The Orion Nebula Is Full of Impossible Enigmas That Come in Pairs - In new, high-resolution imagery of the star-forming region, scientists spotted worlds that defied explanation, naming them Jupiter Mass Binary Objects. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/science/orion-nebula-webb-planets.html |date=2 October 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20231002114507/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/science/orion-nebula-webb-planets.html |archivedate=2 October 2023 |accessdate=2 October 2023 }}</ref>