The Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light-years across, and so not only is Orion in our galaxy, it is in our section of the galaxy. 2) The Orion Nebula is located in the sky very close to the ecliptic (the plane containing the sun and the Earth's orbit), and very close to the zero-hour marker on a sky chart (the "right-ascention"). read more
It has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula. The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky, and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. read more