The Great Nebula in Orion is an immense, nearby starbirth region. The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located about 1500 light years away in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

The Orion Nebula contains a very young open cluster The Trapezium or Orion Trapezium Cluster, also known by its Bayer designation of Theta1 Orionis. In normal observing conditions can be resolved four stars but two of these stars are binary systems giving a total of six stars to the asterism.

The stars of the Trapezium, along with many other stars, are still in their early years. The Trapezium is a component of the much larger Orion Nebula Cluster, an association of about 2800 stars within a diameter of 20 light years.