Horsehead Nebula - wikipedia Horsehead Nebula Horsehead Nebula Dark nebula diffuse The entire neighborhood of the nebula. The reflection nebula NGC 2023 is in the bottom left corner and the nebula itself near the center, in the shape of the head of a horse. Observation data : J2000. 0 epoch Right ascension 05 40 59.0 Declination − 02 ° 27 ′ 30.0 '' Distance 1,500 ly Apparent dimensions ( V ) 8 × 6 arcmins Constellation Orion Physical characteristics Radius 3.5 ly Notable features Resembles a horse 's head Designations Barnard 33, LDN 1630, See also : Lists of nebulae The Horsehead Nebula ( also known as Barnard 33 ) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest east on Orion 's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The nebula was first recorded in 1888 by Scottish astronomer Williamina Fleming on photographic plate B2312 taken at the Harvard College Observatory. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of the shape of its swirling cloud of dark dust and gases, which bears some resemblance to a horse 's head when viewed from Earth. Contents 1 Overview 2 Gallery 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Overview The dark cloud of dust and gas is a region in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex where star formation is taking place. It is located in the constellation of Orion, which is prominent in the winter evening sky in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer evening sky in the Southern Hemisphere. This stellar nursery, as it is known, can contain over 100 known kinds of organic and inorganic gases as well as dust ; some of the latter is made up of large and complex organic molecules. The red or pinkish glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. Magnetic fields channel the gases leaving the nebula into streams, shown as streaks in the background glow. A glowing strip of hydrogen gas marks the edge of the massive cloud, and the densities of nearby stars are noticeably different on either side. The heavy concentrations of dust in the Horsehead Nebula region and neighbouring Orion Nebula are localized, resulting in alternating sections of nearly complete opacity and transparency. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust blocking the light of stars behind it. The lower part of the Horsehead 's neck casts a shadow to the left. The visible dark nebula emerging from the gaseous complex is an active site of the formation of `` low - mass '' stars. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula 's base are young stars just in the process of forming. It has a magnitude of. 11. Gallery Horsehead Nebula and Alnitak ( WH Pickering ; 1888 ). Horsehead Nebula captured with a H - alpha filter. View with a regular telescope and camera. View from the HST ( infrared ). View from the ESO ( 2002 ). Horse Head and Flame Nebula Hydrogen alpha 384mm scope Click Here for Animated map -- Orion 's Horsehead Nebula -- yellow and white areas have the most intense radiation from carbon atoms ( March 2016 ). See also Horsehead Nebula in fiction List of Hubble anniversary images References Jump up ^ Arnett, Bill ( 2000 ). `` Horsehead Nebula ''. Retrieved July 21, 2014. Jump up ^ Cannon, Annie J. ( June 1911 ). `` WILLIAMINA PATON FLEMING ''. Science ( published June 30, 1911 ). 33 ( 861 ) : 987 -- 988. Bibcode : 1911Sci... 33... 987C. doi : 10.1126 / science. 33.861. 987. PMID 17799863. Jump up ^ Sharp, Nigel ( 2014 ). `` The Horsehead Nebula ''. National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Retrieved July 21, 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Horsehead Nebula / IC434 ''. National Optical Astronomy Observatory. NOAO. Retrieved 12 May 2014. Jump up ^ Morgan, W.W. ; Lodén, Kerstin ( 1966 ). `` Some Characteristics of the Orion Association ''. Vistas in Astronomy. 8 : 83 -- 88. Bibcode : 1966VA... 8... 83M. doi : 10.1016 / 0083 - 6656 ( 66 ) 90023 - 7. ISSN 0083 - 6656. Jump up ^ Mayo Greenberg, J ( 2002 ). `` Cosmic dust and our origins ''. Surface Science. 500 ( 1 - 3 ) : 793 -- 822. Bibcode : 2002SurSc. 500... 793M. doi : 10.1016 / S0039 - 6028 ( 01 ) 01555 - 2. ISSN 0039 - 6028. Jump up ^ Nemiroff, R. ; Bonnell, J., eds. ( 21 July 2009 ). `` The Horsehead Nebula ''. Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 12 May 2014. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Horsehead Nebula. SOFIA / upGREAT ( C II ) Velocity Resolved Map of the Horsehead Nebula The Horsehead Nebula @ The Electronic Sky Hubble Observes the Horsehead Nebula The discovery of early photographs of the Horsehead nebula, by Waldee and Hazen The Horsehead Nebula in the 19th Century, by Waldee Detection of new nebulae by photography, by Pickering Horsehead Nebula at ESA / Hubble The Horsehead Nebula at the Astro - Photography site of Mr. T. Yoshida. The Horsehead - Nebula and neighboring structures in a classical view The Horsehead Nebula on interactive astro - photography survey at Wikisky.org The Horsehead Nebula at Constellation Guide LCCN : sh2001010279 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Horsehead_Nebula&oldid=835249546 '' Categories : Dark nebulae Horsehead Nebula Orion Molecular Cloud Complex Star formation Barnard objects Hidden categories : Pages using deprecated image syntax All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2017 Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Български Brezhoneg Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar Македонски മലയാളം Bahasa Melayu Монгол မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Scots Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 40 more Edit links This page was last edited on 7 April 2018, at 14 : 30 ( UTC ). 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Question: how far is the horsehead nebula from earth
Answer: approximately 1500 light years