The Horsehead Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, SSRO, PROMPT, CTIO, NSF
Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is visible only because itsobscuring dust is silhouetted against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young star, is at the lower left of the full image. The featured gorgeous color image combines both narrowband and broadband images recorded using several different telescopes.
馬頭星雲
這個可辨認形狀的的壯麗星際塵埃雲是在恆星風和輻射鵰刻下偶然形成的。它也被稱為馬頭星雲,距離地球約1500光年,鑲嵌在巨大的獵戶星雲複合體中。這團暗雲的編錄號為巴納德33,其寬度約為5光年,它之所以可見是因為模糊的塵埃在熾熱紅色發射星雲IC 434的襯託下呈現出的剪影。許多恆星正在暗雲內形成。與之形成鮮明對比的是藍色反射星雲NGC 2023,它環繞著一顆熾熱的年輕恆星,位於這幅圖像的左下方。這幅絢麗的彩色特徵影像是由多臺不同望遠鏡拍攝的窄帶和寬帶照片組合而成。
高清原圖地址:
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191217.html