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The Universe
October 22 at 8:40 PM ·
THE HORSEHEAD NEBULA

The Horsehead Nebula, aka Barnard 33, is 1,500 light years away, in the constellation Orion. It is five light years ‘tall’ and the dark cloud has stars forming within it. It is visible because its dark dust is silhouetted against the red emission nebula IC 434, the red colour originates from the hydrogen gas within the nebula. At the lower left is the blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot young star. The colours of this image combine narrowband and broadband images, recorded using three different telescopes.

-TEL
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100513.html
Image Credit: Marco Burali, Tiziano Capecchi, Marco Mancini (Osservatorio MTM)