The Blue Horsehead Nebula in Infrared
Explanation:
The Blue Horsehead Nebula looks quite different in infrared light.
In visible light, the reflecting
dust
of the nebula
appears blue and shaped like a horse's head.
In infrared light, however,
a complex labyrinth of filaments, caverns, and cocoons of glowing dust and gas emerges,
making it hard to even
identify the equine icon.
The featured image of the nebula was created in three infrared colors (R=22, G=12,
B=4.6 microns)
from data taken by NASA's orbiting
Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft.
The nebula is cataloged as
IC 4592
and spans about 40 light years, lying about 400 light years away toward the constellation
Scorpius
along the plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy.
IC 4592
is fainter but covers an angularly greater region than the better known
Horsehead Nebula of
Orion.
The star that predominantly illuminates and heats the dust is
Nu Scorpii, visible as the
yellow star left of center.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
