The middle of the three "sword stars" in the famous winter constellation Orion—the Hunter—appears fuzzy. Closer inspection with a pair of binoculars will reveal that this is not a star, but rather the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery. In the midst of this vast nebula (more than 20,000 times the size of our solar system) is a young group of stars known as the Trapezium.
(Shown about 90 minutes after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes. (Insets show simulated binocular and telescopic views of the Orion Nebula, images copyright © Anglo Australian Observatory.))
