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Credit & Copyright: Marco Burali, Tiziano Capecchi, Marco Mancini
(Osservatorio MTM)
Explanation:
Sculpted by stellar winds and
radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by
chance has assumed this
recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the
Horsehead
Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years
distant,
embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex.
About five light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as
Barnard 33
and is visible only because its
obscuring dust is silhouetted
against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434.
Stars are forming within the dark cloud.
Contrasting blue
reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young
star, is at the lower left.
The gorgeous
color image
combines both
narrowband
and
broadband images recorded using three different telescopes.
Free Present:
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Horsehead Nebula - dark nebula - reflection nebula
Publications with words: Horsehead Nebula - dark nebula - reflection nebula
See also: