Horsehead Nebula
The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 or B33) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion molecular cloud complex. It appears within the southern region of the dense dust cloud known as Lynds 1630, along the edge of the much larger, active star-forming H II region called IC 434.
| Dark nebula | |
|---|---|
| diffuse | |
The Horsehead Nebula. The reflection nebula NGC 2023 is in the bottom left corner and the nebula itself near the centre, in the shape of the head of a horse. Photo taken in 2011 | |
| Observation data: J2000.0 epoch | |
| Right ascension | 05h 40m 59.0s |
| Declination | −02° 27′ 30.0" |
| Distance | 1,375±54 ly (422±17 pc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 6.8 |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 8 × 6 arcmins |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | 3.5 ly |
| Designations | Barnard 33, LDN 1630, IC 434 |
The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 422 parsecs or 1,375 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of its resemblance to a horse's head.
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