ESA Herschel Captures Infra-red Image of Horsehead Nebula

Credit: ESA/Herschel /PACS, SPIRE/N. Schneider, Ph. André, V. Könyves (CEA Saclay, France) for the “Gould Belt survey” Key Programme

Wednesday, May 1, 2013: A new view shows the Horsehead Nebula in the context of its surroundings. 

The nebula resides in the constellation Orion, about 1300 light-years away, which makes up part of the vast Orion Molecular Cloud complex. 

Flame Nebula

The nebula appears to poke its horse’s head shape above the surrounding gas and dust at the far right-hand side, pointing towards the Flame Nebula. 

Intense radiation streaming away from newborn stars heats up the surrounding dust and gas (pink and white). 

To the left lie two other star formation sites, NGC 2068 and NGC 2071 (Messier 78). 

Cool gas and dust networks weave throughout the scene as red and yellow filaments. Some of these may host newly forming low-mass stars.

The region surrounding the reflection nebula Messier 78

This image of the region surrounding the reflection nebula Messier 78, just to the north of Orion’s belt, shows clouds of cosmic dust threaded through the nebula like a string of pearls.

The submillimeter-wavelength observations, made with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope and shown here in orange, use the heat glow of interstellar dust grains to show astronomers where new stars are being formed.

They are overlaid on a view of the region in visible light.

Image: ESO/APEX (MPIfR/ESO/OSO)/T. Stanke et al./Igor Chekalin/Digitized Sky Survey 2