Cosmic Art #3

Latest infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula heic1307a

Week three of my weekly post that I'm calling Cosmic Art. Our amazing universe has fascinated me since I was a child. I have been fortunate enough to have worked at NASA for almost a decade and have witnessed first hand the incredible achievements we as humans can accomplish. These posts are dedicated to the men and women who made these stunning images possible.

This latest Hubble image, captured and released to celebrate the telescope’s 23rd year in orbit, shows part of the sky in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter). Rising like a giant seahorse from turbulent waves of dust and gas is the Horsehead Nebula, otherwise known as Barnard 33 and is about 1300 light years away from Earth.

This image shows the region in infrared light, which has longer wavelengths than visible light and can pierce through the dusty material that usually obscures the nebula’s inner regions. The result is a rather ethereal and fragile-looking structure, made of delicate folds of gas — very different to the nebula’s appearance in visible light.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)
Content Source: spacetelescope.org