IC 434 | The Horsehead Nebula

Details

The Horsehead Nebula is a part of a dark cloud in the constellation Orion, which stands out in front of the red glowing emission nebula IC 434 with a silhouette similar to a horse's head . The nebula is about 1500 light-years away from Earth and appears to be a quarter the size of Earth's moon. Due to its equatorial position it can be observed from all inhabited areas of the Earth.

The Horsehead Nebula was discovered as early as 1887 with the help of the then new photography. Williamina Fleming, entrusted by the director of the Harvard College Observatory Edward Charles Pickering with the examination of the photographic plates, recognized the nebula as a semicircular indentation in an emission nebula.

Today the Horsehead Nebula is a very popular object to photograph.