Astrophotographer Joel Martin captured a gorgeous view of the Orion Nebula (M42) shining 1,500 light-years from Earth, revealing spectacular detail in the stellar nursery as it hung in the winter skies over the seaside village of Del Mar in California.
Martin's image highlights the nebula's chaotic, radiation-sculpted structure, whose cosmic dust and gas are being actively shaped by the thousands of energetic young stars that coalesced within its roiling expanse.
