Found in the
constellation of
Orion, just below his
belt on the
hilt of his
sword. The nebula is a few tens of
light years wide, and is illuminated by a few
hot,
bright stars at it's core. These stars are known as the
Trapezium's. It has been estimated that 1000 young stars have formed from the dust here within the past 10
million years.
Currently (as of Febuary 2001) there are plans to combine four
VLT telescopes to check claims that
planets are forming freely between the stars, from the vast
clouds of
dust present.