Horsehead Nebula Disappears in Infrared Light
Sig14 031

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO

Observation • December 19th, 2014 • sig14-031

sig14-031

The famous Horsehead nebula seen in visible-light images (inset) looks quite different when viewed in infrared light, as seen in this newly released image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

The visible-light image, from the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope facility, can be found online at http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0202a/.

About the Object

Name
Flame NebulaHorsehead NebulaNGC 2024Barnard 33
Type
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Nebula > Appearance > Emission
Nebula > Appearance > Dark
Distance
1,000 Light Years

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
Infrared 3.6 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 4.5 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 5.8 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 8.0 µm Spitzer IRAC
Infrared 24.0 µm Spitzer MIPS
Infrared 24.0 µm VLT
Infrared 24.0 µm VLT
Infrared 24.0 µm VLT

Astrometrics

Position ()
RA =5h 41m 48.9s
Dec = -1° 53' 34.0"
Field of View
1.5 x 0.9 degrees
Orientation
North is 90.0° left of vertical