 The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky , and is among the most intensely studied celestial features . The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust . Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks , brown dwarfs , intense and turbulent motions of the gas , and the photo @-@ ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula . 
