A familiar giant begins his winter stride across the night sky. Orion the Hunter is one of the more popular constellations due to his well-known shape and three stars in a row that mark the distinctive belt.

Hanging from Orion’s belt are three dimmer stars forming either a sword or its sheath. Thought of as the middle “star” is an enormous stellar nursery, nearly bright enough to be seen in a dark sky with the unaided eye. The Great Orion Nebula is a hotbed of gases, known as an emission nebula. Emission nebulae have at least one star in their hearts of gas and dust that cause them to glow. The Orion Nebula has massive star formation in its depths.

Close enough to be photographed in the same view field is the Running Man Nebula. This reflection nebula resembles a man racing amongst the stars. A reflection nebula has no star at its heart but reflects light from nearby stars. Separating Running Man Nebula (M43) from the Orion Nebula (M42) is a narrow lane of dark dust.

Dark nebulae do not have stars at their center, and they are not close enough to a star to reflect light. However, the dark smudges can be revealed dramatically through infrared light. The most famous would be the Horsehead Nebula, near Orion’s belt.