and visible wavelengths as captured by the VISTA telescope in Paranal, Chile (click to enlarge). This bright and beautiful object, also known as M42, lies in the sword of of its famous namesake constellation and can be seen with the naked eye. This enormous cloud of glowing gas and dust lies about 1,350 light years from Earth and is a region of massive star formation, about 24 light years across.Image credit: ESO.
