APOD 3.1

This false-color image of the Orion nebula, otherwise known as M-object 42, located 1,500 light-years away, was taken from the Spitzer Space Telescope using infrared data and spans 40,000 light years. The brightest part of this nebula is located in the same place as the Trapezium Cluster, discovered by Galileo, Orion's three brightest stars. The red coloring in this image indicates the nebula's protostars. A close protostar, HOPS 68, is said to have crystalline silicate mineral olivine in it's protostellar envelope.