can an orion nebula be seen only with a telescope?

T

TEAMJACOBALLTHEWAY!!!

New member
i was just wondering if it were possible to see an orion nebula w/o a telescope. And how many times a year do they occur? Is it only in one specific region? Also, what's the Greek history behind it?
 
The Orion Nebula can be easily seen with the naked eye in a dark sky. It seems to have been known to the ancients as a strange fuzzy "star." The Orion Nebula is well placed for most of the northern winter and the southern summer.
 
THE Orion Nebula is, as the name suggests, the most prominent nebula in the constellation Orion. It doesn't "occur" because it's a long-lasting cloud of gas and dust in which stars are forming. It looks especially good through binoculars, and is gorgeous through a telescope and wide-angle eyepiece.

This isn't the best time of year to see it as it's getting low in the western sky at nightfall.

If you're looking for other nebulae, let us know where you live, because that affects which parts of the sky you can see. "Nebula" by the way, is Latin for "cloud".
 
The Orion nebula is located in the constellation of Orion. Yes, I have seen it with a pair of binoculars. Of course, it did not have the detail you would get with a telescope. At a magnitude of 4, you can see it with the naked eye on a dark night away from city lights. The nebula is always there, but is easily spotted during the winter months. See the link below for further details:
 
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