Messier 42
M42
Orion Nebula, catalogue designation M42
Documentary plate · Fig. 2
A cavern where stars are still being born. Hubble mosaic of the Orion Nebula. The name M42 is Messier’s list number, not a measured forty-two.
PhotoNASA, ESA, M. Robberto and the Hubble Orion Treasury Project TeamPublic domain
The Orion Nebula is object 42 in Messier’s catalogue · a name, not a measurement of forty-two.
NASA / JPL
Printed 42s
A proton count. A catalogue seat. A scan. A model boundary. A patch that draws 4 and II. A joke a JPL scientist made in public. Different kinds. NASA printed them. That does not make them one Answer.
The metal
- Z = 42Molybdenum
Proton count. The integer was 42 before Adams.
- jokeDouglas Adams element
Russell at JPL named the metal. NASA printed the joke.
Sky and distance
M42Orion Nebulahere
Catalogue seat. NASA’s Cosmic Hearth is Maya reception.
- C42Caldwell 42
Another catalogue. NGC 7006. Not a measured forty-two.
- ≈42 AUKuiper collisions
Stern 1995. A modeled boundary, not Albion’s distance.
- 42.1 km/sSolar escape
Vis-viva at 1 AU. Family 4.2, not 42.00.
Missions and tools
- 42 minMariner 2
A scan of Venus. Duration, not a law of the planet.
- 42 dApollo 12 S-IVB
Missed heliocentric burn. NASA prints the period.
- 42Expedition 42
Sequential crew number. The patch draws 4 and II.
- STS-42STS-42
Shuttle number. Discovery, IML-1.
- 42Horizons keywords
JPL’s own manual. A documentation count.
What it supports
A historical catalogue designation (Messier 1771) for a real, observed nebula (NGC 1976), the nearest large star-forming region. NASA/JPL WISE plate PIA16684 names it The Cosmic Hearth: Maya hearthstones of creation, nebula as cosmic fire.
What it does not
M42 is not a measured quantity of 42. The number is a list position. Later deep images do not make the designation a physical constant. The Maya hearth is reception NASA printed. It is not Vesta the asteroid.
ExactnessDesignation
FormM42
Unitcatalogue
Strengthhard
When1771