Messier 43
| Emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| Messier 43
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| M43, in the picture above left, is the emission nebula located north above the great Orion Nebula and separated from it by a dark dust trail | |
| AladinLite | |
| Constellation | Orion |
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Position equinox : J2000.0 , epoch : J2000.0 |
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| Right ascension | 05 h 35 m 31.4 s |
| declination | −05 ° 16 ′ 03 ″ |
| Appearance
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| Apparent brightness (visual) | 9.0 mag |
| Angular expansion | 20.0 '× 15.0' |
| Ionizing source | |
| designation | NU Orionis |
| Type | star |
| Physical data
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| Affiliation | Milky Way |
| distance | 1300 ly (400 pc ) |
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history
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| discovery | JJ d'Ortous de Mairan |
| Date of discovery | 1731 |
| Catalog names | |
| NGC 1982 • M 43 • H III 1 • GC 1185 | |
Messier 43 (also known as NGC 1982 or De Mairan's Nebula ) is a gas nebula in the constellation Orion with a brightness of +9.00 mag, which is adjacent to the Orion Nebula . The nebula has an angular extent of 20.0 '× 15.0' north of Messier 42 (Orion Nebula).
The fog was first documented in 1731 by the French Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan . Charles Messier gave the nebula its own catalog number when describing the Orion Nebula .
The emission nebula surrounds the variable star NU Orionis ( HD 37061) and is excited by this to glow. Like the Orion Nebula, the gas cloud is an HII region .
See also
Web links
Commons : Messier 43 - album with pictures, videos and audio files
- Virtual tour at Hubblesite.org (flash)
