Posted on 09/08/2012 9:16:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: The famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion is not alone. A deep exposure shows that the dark familiar shaped indentation, visible just below center, is part of a vast complex of absorbing dust and glowing gas. To bring out details of the Horsehead's pasture, amateur astronomers at the Star Shadow Remote Observatory in New Mexico, USA fixed a small telescope on the region for over seven hours filtering out all but a very specific color of red light emitted by hydrogen. They then added the image to a full color frame taken over three hours. The resulting spectacular picture details an intricate tapestry of gaseous wisps and dust-laden filaments that were created and sculpted over eons by stellar winds and ancient supernovas. The Horsehead Nebula lies 1,500 light years distant towards the constellation of Orion. Two stars from the Orion's Belt can be found in the above image.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote Observatory]
that is an outstanding photo!
I like this one much better than yesterday’s, but the story yesterday was more interesting. ;’)
Code Pink?
Wrong end of the horse.
It's at about the same scale as the APOD, but rotated a little to the right. You can see the stars near the top of the Orion Nebula ( in the sword ) which also are shown in the APOD. The bright stars near the Horsehead are tricky. The very bright blue blob, and the dimmer pink blob correspond to the two bright stars close to the Horsehead in the APOD, as you can see by placing them in the larger context. The bright nebulosity to the left of the blue blob can be matched to the bright "spidery" area in the APOD. This blue blob is the leftmost star in the belt. The middle belt star is the bright star on the left of the APOD, and appears much less bright in my screen shot, where the rightmost star of the belt is at the very top edge.
Beautiful.
Thanks for posting this SunkenCiv.
I like these pictures for the detail and so on, but understand that they are always over-exposed or processed in some way to show specific things— photoshopping without dishonest intent, so to speak.
One of these days I’d like to see a picture of what our night sky would look like to the naked eye if we lived close enough that that picture stretched from horizon to horizon.
(That is worded awkwardly. I hope it is understood.)
I’ll bet on THAT horse any day!
Great Picture, Civ! :-)
I see man’s continual struggle to find meaning in the vastness of the universe. That or a cherry slurpee.
:’D
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