The bright star at upper left is the middle star in Orion's belt, called Alnilam, and the bright star to the left of the Horsehead and above NGC 2024 is the eastern end star of Orion's belt. The Horsehead Nebula is thought to be around 3 to 4 light years tall and 2 to 3 light years across. As the name implies, this dark nebula, silhouetted by the glowing emission nebula behind it, looks like a horse's head. Horsehead Nebula, is a dark nebula located in the constellation Orion. Both the Horsehead Nubula and IC 434 are part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, an enormous star forming region spanning hundreds of light years in diameter. The bright nebula to the lower left of the Horsehead is the emission nebula NGC 2024.

The nebula is illuminated by the star at the horse's "eye" -Nu Scorpii. If you know the answer to this question, please register to join our limited beta program and start the conversation right now! I finally managed to observe it two years ago after fifty _years_ of trying. Note the small galaxy near the upper left corner. The beautiful Horsehead nebula (center) is made of dark dust in front of an emission nebula (red).

The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 460 parsecs or 1400 light years from Earth.

The Horsehead nebula is a dark nebula located in the constellation of Orion. Horsehead Nebula is magnitude * and is 8" x 6"' in size.
Being partly an emission nebula, … The dark Horsehead Nebula is visible due to the backdrop of the bright emission nebula IC 434.

A portion of this dark cloud has a shape somewhat resembling a horse’s head. The Horsehead Nebula is a popular winter time target and as such the perfect time to photograph it is late November to January. It reminds me of a knight chess piece. For reference, the full moon is 30' (arc minutes) in size. The dust absorbs the light from part of the ionized cloud. We need you to answer this question! What is the magnitude of nebula? It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of its resemblance to a horse's head. Horsehead Nebula, (catalog number IC 434), ionized-hydrogen region in the constellation Orion.The nebula consists of a cloud of ionized gas lit from within by young, hot stars; a dark cloud containing interstellar dust lies immediately in front. IC 4592 - the Blue Horsehead Nebula in Scorpius The Blue Horsehead nebula is a reflection nebula that spans 3 degrees by 1.5 degrees in the constellation of Scorpius. Of all the objects in the sky, this is one that looks exactly like it is named. To do so, I had to travel to the Australian outback and use an 18-inch reflector and a Hydrogen Beta filter, and even then it was only the faintest of shadows on one of the faintest nebulae in the sky.

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most difficult deep sky objects in the entire sky.