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The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row. A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters,all imbedded in an extendedpatch ofgaseous wisps in the greaterOrionMolecularCloudComplex.The brightest three stars on the far left are indeed thefamous three stars that make up thebelt of Orion. Just below Alnitak, the lowest of thethree belt stars, is theFlame Nebula, glowing withexcited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust. Below the frame center and just to the right ofAlnitak lies theHorsehead Nebula, a dark indentation ofdense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky.On the upper right liesM42, theOrion Nebula,an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas,visible to the unaided eye,that is giving birth to anew open cluster of stars. Immediately to the left ofM42is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called theRunning Man that houses many bright blue stars. Theabove image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500light years away and spans about 75 light years.

These colorful panels bothfeature a familiar northern hemisphereastronomical sight: the stellar nursery known asthe Great Orion Nebula.They also offer an intriguing and unfamiliar detail of thenebula rich skyscape — a passing comet.Recorded this weekend with a remotely operated telescope in New Mexico, the right hand image was taken onSeptember 26 andthe left on September 27Comet 217P Linearsports an extended greenish tail and liesabove the bluishRunning Manreflection nebula near the top ofboth frames.Nearby and moving rapidly through the night sky, the comet’sposition clearly shifts against the cosmic nebulae and backgroundstars from one night to the next.In fact, the comet was a mere 5 light-minutes away on September27, compared to 1,500 light-years for the Orion Nebula.Much too faint to be seen with the unaided eye,Comet217P Linearis a small periodic comet with an orbital period ofabout 8 years.At its most distant point from the Sun,the comet’sorbit is calculated to reach beyond the orbit of JupiterAt its closest point to the Sun, the comet still lies justbeyond the orbit of planet Earth.