The Horsehead Nebula is a striking, dark gas cloud just below Orion’s belt. It is a favorite of both professional and amateur astronomers. However, as a dark nebula, most of its true structure is hidden from visible light observations. To celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, we revealed the considerable detail of that unseen nebular structure via an infrared portrait. The result is even more striking, and something one just doesn’t see very often: a veritable astronomical horse of a different color.
“Hubble’s Universe” is a recurring broadcast from HubbleSite, online home of the Hubble Space Telescope. Astrophysicist Frank Summers takes viewers on an in-depth tour of the latest Hubble discoveries. Find more episodes at http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/hubbles_universe_unfiltered/
Horsehead Nebula
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2001/12/image/a/
Horsehead Nebula in Infrared Light
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2013/12/image/a/