2009AJ....138.1235O

We have combined 327.5 MHz radio observations and optical spectroscopy to study conditions in the Extended Orion Nebula (EON). We see a steady progression of characteristics with increasing distance from the dominant photoionizing star θ¹Ori C. This progression includes a decrease in the F(Hα)/F(Hβ) ratio, an increase in the relative strength of scattered stellar continuum, decrease in electron density determined from the [S II] doublet, and increase in the ratio of emission measures derived from the Hβ line and the 327.5 MHz radio continuum. We conclude that beyond about 5' south of θ¹Ori C that scattered light from the much brighter central Huygens region of the nebula significantly contaminates local emission. This strengthens earlier arguments that wavelength and model-dependent scattering of emission-line radiation imposes a fundamental limit on our ability to determine the physical conditions and abundances in this and arguably other similar Galactic Nebulae. The implications for the study of extragalactic H II regions are even more severe. We confirm the result of an earlier study that at least the eastern boundary of the EON is dominated by scattered light from the Huygens region.