It is located 3, 800 light-years away from Earth, inside the Orion spur — the same partial spiral arm of the Milky way where our solar system is located. The nebula is nearly 240 light-years across.

Located about 6, 000 light-years from Earth, the Heart and Soul nebulae form a vast star-forming complex that makes up part of the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy.

Menkhib and the California Nebula are about 1,800 light-years away from Earth and are located within the same spur of the Orion spiral arm of the Milky way galaxy as Earth.