M43: Streams of Orion
Where do the dark streams of dust in the Orion Nebula originate? This part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex , M43 , is the often imaged but rarely mentioned neighbor of the more famous M42. M42 , seen in part to the upper right, includes many bright stars from the Trapezium star cluster . M43 is itself a star forming region that displays intricately-laced streams of dark dust -- although it is really composed mostly of glowing hydrogen gas. The entire Orion field is located about 1600 light years away. Opaque to visible light , the picturesque dark dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by strong outer winds of proton s and electron s.