IC 434

Detailed Information:
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula composed of dust and non-luminous gas whose shape is outlined by the red curtain of the hydrogen emissions of IC 434. It is located in the constellation Orion near Zeta Orionis. This region is a nursery of new star formation and a few young stars can be seen shining through. The faint reddish areas within the dark nebula are examples of what are termed Herbig-Haro objects. These are faint area of nebulosity associated with newly born stars. They are formed when gas that is ejected from these young stars collides with the surrounding clouds of gas and dust at speeds of several hundred kilometres per second.

The bright blue diffraction spikes on the left of the image are from Zeta Orionis. The small blue nebula below is a diffuse reflection nebula, NGC 2023. A faint pink band can be seen halfway out from the center of NGC 2023 which is the result of a zone of neutral hydrogen that emits light by a rare phenomenon known as vibrational fluorescence.