The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
While drifting through the cosmos,
a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by
stellar winds and radiation to assume a
recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the
Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42).
A potentially rewarding but difficult object to
view personally
with a small telescope, the
above gorgeously detailed image was
recently taken in
infrared light by the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope
in honor of the 23rd anniversary of
Hubble's launch.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500
light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star
Sigma Orionis.
The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the
high energy starlight.