Messier 43
M43
📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.
Object
- Type (NASA)
- Nebula
- Distance from Earth
- 1,600 light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- 9 mag
- Apparent size
- 20 ′
- NASA description
- Messier 43 is a neighbor to Messier 42, the Orion Nebula.
Source:NASA Hubble (Messier/Caldwell catalogs) · checked 2026-11-02 ↗NASA HEASARC (Goddard Space Flight Center) · checked 2026-11-02 ↗
Related
Constellation
In everyday life
- Light from this object takes about 1,600 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 426 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
- At magnitude 9 it is fainter than the naked-eye limit (about 6) — you need binoculars or a telescope.
- It spans about 20′ of sky — about half the full Moon's 31′.