Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 December 17 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Horsehead Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Mark Hanson & [4]Martin Pugh, [5]SSRO, [6]PROMPT, [7]CTIO, [8]NSF Explanation: [9]Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this [10]recognizable shape. Fittingly named the [11]Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years [12]distant, embedded in the vast [13]Orion cloud complex. About five light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as [14]Barnard 33 and is visible only because its [15]obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434. [16]Stars are forming within the dark cloud. [17]Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young [18]star, is at the lower left of [19]the full image. The featured gorgeous [20]color image combines both [21]narrowband and [22]broadband images recorded using several different telescopes. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search | [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss | [33]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell ([37]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [38]Specific rights apply. [39]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix2015.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1912/Horsehead_Hanson_2604.jpg 3. https://www.hansonastronomy.com/bio 4. https://www.martinpughastrophotography.space/ 5. http://www.starshadows.com/ 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROMPT_Telescopes 7. http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/ 8. https://www.nsf.gov/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080313.html 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse 11. http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0057.html 12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgTrLozRj40 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070125.html 14. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/b33.html 15. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2001/12/ 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070218.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160608.html 18. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1912/Horsehead_Hanson_2604.jpg 20. https://www.hansonastronomy.com/ic-434ngc2023 21. https://www.thepoke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/pets-vs-furniture-cat-squeezed-in-couch.jpg 22. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e1/6c/e4/e16ce47242406ac2d278f10619282d13.jpg 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191216.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 32. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191217 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191218.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. http://www.mtu.edu/