In my early teens, the Orion Nebula was the first nebula I observed using my small backyard refractor telescope. I recall faint swirls of color that were different than anything else I had seen in the heavens.
Over the years, and mainly since 1994, when Corrective Optics were applied to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, our cosmos' images have markedly improved.
In 2004 and 2005, using the Advanced Camera for Surveys, Hubble was able to peer further into Orion Nebula and see the "cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming." According to the Hubble Site, "Astronomers used 520 Hubble images, taken in five colors, to make this picture. They also added ground-based photos to fill out the nebula."
What we now see is a gorgeous mix of over 3,000 stars mixed with protoplanetary disks - birthing solar systems just at the edge of resolution in this mosaic image. Just as fascinating, at the upper left is a nebula within a nebula, what astronomers describe a "miniature Orion Nebula because only one star is sculpting the landscape."
We meet the Orion Nebula, the closest birthplace of stars and planets through this remarkable image. At the speed of light, it would take 1,500 light-years before we would arrive.
Edited 8/17/2020
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