Eleven years in orbit: Hubble observes the popular Horsehead nebula: Rising from a sea of dust and gas like a giant sea horse, the Horsehead Nebula, located in the constellation of Orion, is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust. The bright area at the top left-hand edge is a young star still embedded in its nursery of gas and dust. Radiation from this hot star is eroding its gaseous birthplace. A massive star located outside Hubble's view is sculpting the top of the Horsehead itself in a similar way. Rising from a sea of dust and gas like a giant seahorse, the Horsehead nebula is one of the most photographed objects in the sky. NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took a close-up look at this heavenly icon, revealing the cloud's intricate structure. This detailed view of the horse's head is being released to celebrate the orbiting observatory's eleventh anniversary. Produced by the Hubble Heritage Project, this picture is a testament to the Horsehead's popularity. Internet voters selected this object for the orbiting telescope to view. The Horsehead, also known as Barnard 33, is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust, silhouetted against the bright nebula, IC 434. The bright area at the top left edge is a young star still embedded in its nursery of gas and dust. But radiation from this hot star is eroding the stellar nursery. The top of the nebula also is being sculpted by radiation from a massive star located out of Hubble's field of view.

Name: Barnard 33, Horsehead Nebula
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Dark
Category: AnniversaryNebulae
Constellation: Orion
Distance: 1400 light years
Release date: 24 April 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, NOAO, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Composite ultraviolet-visible-infrared image of NGC 1512: This picture is a multi-wavelength composite made by seven individual exposures made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. These exposures were taken by the Faint Object Camera (FOC), Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)

Individual colour images - 1 (FOC, 220 nm): This is the first in a sequence of seven images which demonstrate the Hubble telescope's wavelength range, starting in the far ultraviolet and stretching all the way to the infrared. This image was taken by the Faint Object Camera (built by the European Space Agency, ESA). The colour purple (220 nm) represents ultraviolet light, which cannot be seen by the human eye. The image was taken on 18 July, 1993, and has an exposure time of 596 s. This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)

Individual colour images - 2 (WFPC2, 338 nm): This is the second in a sequence of seven images which demonstrate the Hubble telescope's wavelength range, starting in the far ultraviolet and stretching all the way to the infrared. This image was taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2(WFPC2). The blue colour (338 nm) denotes the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. The image was taken on 5 March, 1999, and has an exposure time of 2500 s. This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)

Individual colour images - 3 (WFPC2, 545 nm): This is the third in a sequence of seven images which demonstrate the Hubble Space Telescope's wavelength range, starting in the far ultraviolet and stretching all the way to the infrared. This image was taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2(WFPC2). The green colour (545 nm) represents visible light. The image was taken on 5 March, 1999, and has an exposure time of 900 s. This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)

Individual colour images - 4 (WFPC2, 659 nm): This is the fourth in a sequence of seven images which demonstrate the Hubble telescope's wavelength range, starting in the far ultraviolet and stretching all the way to the infrared. This image was taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2(WFPC2). The yellow colour (659 nm) represents visible light from (redshifted) ionised hydrogen (H-alpha). The image was taken on 5 March, 1999, and has an exposure time of 5200 s. This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)

Individual colour images - 5 (WFPC2, 827 nm): This is the fifth in a sequence of seven images which demonstrate the Hubble telescope's wavelength range, starting in the far ultraviolet and stretching all the way to the infrared. This image was taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2(WFPC2). The orange colour (827 nm) depicts infrared light, which cannot be seen by the human eye. The image was taken on 5 March, 1999, and has an exposure time of 1100 s. This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)

Wide view of NGC 1512: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 snapped this wide view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512. NGC 1512 is in the southern constellation of Horologium at a distance of 9.2 million parsec or 30 million light years). The galaxy is 70 000 light years across and the circumnuclear starburst ring (at the very centre) is 2400 light years wide. A wispy bar of material can barely be seen slicing horizontally through the galaxy. This bar is funnelling gas into the heart of the galaxy, fuelling a ring of star birth. Blue stars and red star-forming clouds of glowing hydrogen trace the grand spiral arms along the galaxy's outer edge. The image was taken on 18 July, 1993, and has a total exposure time of 9700 s distributed on four filters represented by the colours blue (338 nm), green (545 nm), orange (659 nm) and red (827 nm). This image is issued jointly by NASA and ESA.

Name: IRAS 04022-4329, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 31 May 2001, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA)