Horsehead Nebula, in Infrared Light, from Hubble

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Horsehead Nebula, in Infrared Light, from Hubble Hubble, the orbiting space telescope, turned 23 years old in April of 2013. To celebrate the anniversary of its launch, NASA released this amazingly detailed image of the Horsehead Nebula which Hubble took in infrared light. NASA provides a more detailed description of this stunning image: While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42). A potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personally with a small telescope, the above gorgeously detailed image was recently taken in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in honor of the 23rd anniversary of Hubble's launch. The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the high energy starlight. Click on the image to enjoy a much-larger-and-clearer view. Credits: Image of the Horsehead Nebula, taken by Hubble in infrared light, by NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STSci / AURA). Online, courtesy NASA. See Alignments to State and Common Core standards for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicAlignment/Horsehead-Nebula-in-Infrared-Light-from-Hubble-0 See Learning Tasks for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicActivities/Horsehead-Nebula-in-Infrared-Light-from-Hubble-0.

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A Horse of a Different Color
A Horse of a National Aeronautics and Different Color Space Administration A Horse of a Different Color To celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA released a new view of the Horsehead Nebula that provides an intriguing astronomical variation on the phrase, “a horse of a different color.” The Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33, was first recorded in 1888 by Williamina Fleming at the Harvard College Observatory. Visible-light images show a black silhouette, a “dark nebula,” that resembles a horse’s head. Dark nebulae are generally most noticeable because they block the light from background stars. Two views of Horsehead Nebula To see deeper into dark nebulae, astronomers use infrared These two images reveal different views of the Horsehead Nebula. The visible-light image on the left was taken by a ground-based light. Hubble’s infrared image of the Horsehead transforms telescope. The near-infrared image on the right was taken by the the dark nebula into a softly glowing landscape. The image Hubble Space Telescope. reveals more structure and detail in the clouds. In the image at left, the gas around the Horsehead Nebula shines Many parts of the Horsehead Nebula are still opaque at infrared a bright pink, in contrast to the darkness of the Horsehead itself. This pink glow occurs along the edge of the dark cloud and is wavelengths, showing that the gas is dense and cold. Within created by the bright star, Sigma Orionis, above the Horsehead, such cold and dense clouds are regions where stars are born.
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