The Orion Nebula (M42) is one of the brightest and most studied nebulae in the night sky, located about 1,350 light-years away in the constellation Orion. It is a vast stellar nursery where new stars and planetary systems are forming within immense clouds of gas and dust. The nebula’s brilliant glow comes from ionized hydrogen energized by young, massive stars in the Trapezium cluster at its core. Visible even to the naked eye, M42 has captivated astronomers and sky watchers since ancient times—revered by the Maya as the “cosmic fire of creation.” Today, it stands as a living laboratory for understanding how stars and solar systems, including our own, are born.