The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33)
is an iconic dark nebula in the constellation Orion. Along
with the nearby Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), this region is one of
my absolute favorite deep-sky targets to shoot with my DSLR
camera and telescope.
The Flame
Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission
nebula in the constellation Orion. It is about 900 to 1,500
light-years away.
The bright
star Alnitak, the easternmost star in the Belt of Orion,
shines energetic ultraviolet light into the Flame and this
knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas
that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons
and ionized hydrogen recombine. Additional dark gas and dust
lies in front of the bright part of the nebula and this is
what causes the dark network that appears in the center of the
glowing gas. The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular
Cloud Complex, a star-forming region that includes the famous
Horsehead Nebula. |