This complex object has a bit of everything: a young open cluster
of stars, a cloud of ionized hydrogen which glows red under the
radiation of the bright star in the middle, dark dust lanes which
obscure some of the light, and fainter blue reflection nebula. It
is located near the "feet" of Gemini, but is actually within the
area of the constellation Orion. It is 6350 light years from earth.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (modified)
Exposure: ISO 800, 5 minutes x 40
Telescope: 10" Schmidt-Newtonian, Baader coma corrector