The glowing cloud in Orion's sword, the Orion Nebula is a thing of beauty in the night sky; it is also the closest center of massive star formation--a stellar nursery that reproduces the conditions in which our own Sun formed some 4.5 billion years ago. The study of the Orion Nebula, focused upon by ever more powerful telescopes from Galileo's time to our own, clarifies how stars are formed, and how we have come to understand the process. C. Robert O'Dell has spent a lifetime studying Orion, and in this book he explains what the Nebula is, how it shines, its role in giving birth to stars, and the insights it affords into how common (or rare) planet formation might be.

An account of astronomy's extended engagement with one remarkable celestial object, this book also tells the story of astronomy over the last four centuries. To help readers appreciate the Nebula and its secrets, O'Dell unfolds his tale chronologically, as astrophysical knowledge developed, and our knowledge of the Nebula and the night sky improved.

Because he served as chief scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, O'Dell conveys a sense of continuity with his professional ancestors as he describes the construction of the world's most powerful observatory. The result is a rare insider's view of this observatory--and, from that unique perspective, an intimate observer's understanding of one of the sky's most instructive and magnificent objects.

Preface vii
1 Enter the Hunter 1
2 Views of OurUniverse 11
3 Henry Draper and the Photographic Revolution 22
4 The Toolbox of the Astronomer 31
5 Opaque Skies on the Clearest Nights 48
6 Why Is a Star a Star? 59
7  BengtStromgren's Spheres  71
8 The Explorers Set Sail 87
9 Where Did All These Stars Come From? 101
10 The Hubble Space Telescope ll
11 What Orion Really Looks Like 128
12  What Is Happening in the Orion Nebula?  139 
13 Are We Alone? 149
14 Outsmarting the Fickle Goddess
   of Science 161
Index 167