This image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, represents the sharpest view ever taken of the Orion Nebula. The Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years away, the nearest star-forming region to Earth. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. The Orion Nebula is a picture book of star formation, from the massive, young stars that are shaping the nebula to the pillars of dense gas that may be the homes of budding stars. The bright central region is the home of the four heftiest stars in the nebula. The stars are called the Trapezium because they are arranged in a trapezoid pattern. Astronomers used 520 Hubble images, taken between 2004 and 2005, to make this picture.