M42 - the Orion Nebula The famous Orion Nebula, M42, NGC1976 or simply the Orion Nebula is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky. It is located 1344 light years from Earth and is the closest known star-forming region to us. Because it is so bright (visible to the naked eye), it has several records to its name, e.g., it is the first photographed nebula (Henry Draper, 1880). Thanks to its studies, many details of the process of star and planet formation have been learned.