Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  B33  ·  Flame Nebula  ·  HD37805  ·  Horsehead nebula  ·  IC 434  ·  Orion B  ·  Sh2-277
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The Horsehead Nebula & IC 434, Paul Lloyd
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The Horsehead Nebula & IC 434

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Horsehead Nebula & IC 434, Paul Lloyd
Powered byPixInsight

The Horsehead Nebula & IC 434

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Description

The famous Horsehead Nebula, catalogued as Barnard 33, is a cold and dense cloud of gas and dust that
arises out of the large cloud at the bottom of this image. We see it silhouetted against the bright emission
nebula, IC 434, behind it. This bright nebula is shot through with streaks believed to arise from magnetic
fields within IC 434. Both nebulae lie at the eastern end of Orion’s Belt of 3 bright stars, and is quite close
to the star, Alnitak (zeta-Orionis), from our perspective.

IC 434 lies about 1,500ly away, while B33 is about 1,375ly away. B33 was discovered on a photographic
plate by Williamina Fleming in 1888. It was examined by E.E. Barnard  and entered into his catalogue of
dark nebulae as #33. IC 434 is part of the vast Orion molecular cloud, the closest star-forming region to us.


Telescope: William Optics FLT110 refractor + 2.0x Barlow, f=1540mm
Camera:    ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Exposure: 47 x 300 sec, gain = 125, -10C, no filter
                  Bortle 3-4 sky, moonless
Field of View: approx. 0º 20’ x 0º 14’
Image processed and prepared in PixInsight and Photoshop Elements

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The Horsehead Nebula & IC 434, Paul Lloyd