Sharpless 2-279

Sharpless 2-279, the Running Man Nebula complex, is visible in moderate amateur telescopes under dark skies as a faint reflection nebula just north of the Orion Nebula (M42). The complex comprises three NGC objects—NGC 1973, NGC 1975, and NGC 1977—which appear as small hazy patches in telescopes of 4 inches or more aperture. The dark nebulosity forming the "running man" silhouette is most apparent in long-exposure astrophotography rather than visual observation.

Sharpless 2-279 lies at approximately the same distance as the Orion Nebula, roughly 1,300 to 1,600 light-years away within the Orion Molecular Cloud complex. It is part of the same massive star-forming region that includes M42, making it one of the nearest stellar nurseries to our solar system. Precise distance measurements to this complex have been refined through studies using parallax data from the Gaia mission.

Sharpless 2-279 is a separate reflection nebula complex located immediately north of the Orion Nebula (M42), but it belongs to the same Orion Molecular Cloud star-forming region. The Running Man Nebula is dominated by reflection nebulosity—starlight scattering off dust—whereas M42 is primarily an emission nebula glowing from ionized gas. Both can be captured in the same wide-field astrophotograph using moderate focal lengths.

The Running Man Nebula is catalogued as Sharpless 2-279 in the Sharpless catalog of HII regions compiled by Stewart Sharpless. It is composed of three separate New General Catalogue entries: NGC 1973, NGC 1975, and NGC 1977. These objects sit in Orion's sword about half a degree north of M42, the Great Orion Nebula.