Eleven years in orbit: Hubble observes the popular Horsehead nebula
esahubble_heic0105a April 24th, 2001
Credit: NASA, NOAO, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Rising from a sea of dust and gas like a giant seahorse, the Horsehead nebula is one of the most photographed objects in the sky. NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took a close-up look at this heavenly icon, revealing the cloud's intricate structure. This detailed view of the horse's head is being released to celebrate the orbiting observatory's eleventh anniversary. Produced by the Hubble Heritage Project, this picture is a testament to the Horsehead's popularity. Internet voters selected this object for the orbiting telescope to view. The Horsehead, also known as Barnard 33, is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust, silhouetted against the bright nebula, IC 434. The bright area at the top left edge is a young star still embedded in its nursery of gas and dust. But radiation from this hot star is eroding the stellar nursery. The top of the nebula also is being sculpted by radiation from a massive star located out of Hubble's field of view.
Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA
Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0105a/
Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany
Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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Full Size Image
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JPG (1.3 MB) Source File
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Image Details
Position Details
Color Mapping
| Telescope | Spectral Band | Wavelength | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hubble (WFPC2) | Infrared (I) | 814.0 nm |
|
Hubble (WFPC2) | Optical (H-alpha) | 656.0 nm |
|
Hubble (WFPC2) | Optical (V) | 555.0 nm |
|
Hubble (WFPC2) | Optical (B) | 439.0 nm |
| Ground-based data is also included in this image, courtesy of Nigel A. Sharp (NOAO/AURA/NSF) taken at the 0.9-meter telescope at the National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory. | |||
- ID
- heic0105a
- Subject Category
- B.4.2.3
- Subject Name
- Barnard 33, Horsehead Nebula
- Credits
- NASA, NOAO, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
- Release Date
- 2001-04-24T15:00:00
- Lightyears
- Redshift
- Reference Url
- https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0105a/
- Type
- Observation
- Image Quality
- Distance Notes
- Facility
- Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
- Instrument
- WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2
- Color Assignment
- Red, Orange, Green, Blue
- Band
- Infrared, Optical, Optical, Optical
- Bandpass
- I, H-alpha, V, B
- Central Wavelength
- 814, 656, 555, 439
- Start Time
- Integration Time
- Dataset ID
- Notes
- G
- Coordinate Frame
- ICRS
- Equinox
- J2000
- Reference Value
- 85.237188604, -2.45315822058
- Reference Dimension
- 2839.0, 2065.0
- Reference Pixel
- 1419.5, 1032.5
- Scale
- -2.76654809617e-05, 2.76654809617e-05
- Rotation
- 104.11999999999998
- Coordinate System Projection:
- TAN
- Quality
- Full
- FITS Header
- Notes
- Creator (Curator)
- ESA/Hubble
- URL
- http://www.spacetelescope.org/
- Name
- Telephone
- Address
- Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
- City
- Garching bei München
- State/Province
- Postal Code
- D-85748
- Country
- Germany
- Rights
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
- Publisher
- ESA/Hubble
- Publisher ID
- esahubble
- Resource ID
- heic0105a
- Resource URL
- http://www.spacetelescope.org/static/archives/images/original/heic0105a.tif
- Related Resources
- Metadata Date
- 2003-12-09T17:04:18+01:00
- Metadata Version
- 1.1
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
