Noel Carboni
07-23-2008, 11:31 PM
Yesterday I posted an image of the three belt stars of Orion. Near the "leftmost" (as viewed from northern hemisphere locations) belt star Alnitak we find a relatively bright patch of glowing hydrogen gas, centered in this collaborative image I did with my friend Greg Parker.
Hydrogen atoms that have been ionized by energetic ultraviolet light from nearby stars glow a deep red color. These are called emission nebulae. In some cases, dust is illuminated by the visible light from nearby stars and is seen as bluish-white - these are reflection nebulae. Finally, dark nebulae made of dense dust backlit by light from other nebulae or stars are known as absorption nebulae. The HorseHead itself, at the center of this image, is one of these.
The belt of Orion extends up and to the left from Alnitak, the brightest star in this image.
Believe it or not, the width of the Horsehead from "nose" to "mane" is 1000 times the diameter of the orbit of our own ex-planet Pluto. That's one big horse!
Approximately 10 hours exposure time over multiple nights and roughly the same amount of processing time went into this image.
-Noel
Hydrogen atoms that have been ionized by energetic ultraviolet light from nearby stars glow a deep red color. These are called emission nebulae. In some cases, dust is illuminated by the visible light from nearby stars and is seen as bluish-white - these are reflection nebulae. Finally, dark nebulae made of dense dust backlit by light from other nebulae or stars are known as absorption nebulae. The HorseHead itself, at the center of this image, is one of these.
The belt of Orion extends up and to the left from Alnitak, the brightest star in this image.
Believe it or not, the width of the Horsehead from "nose" to "mane" is 1000 times the diameter of the orbit of our own ex-planet Pluto. That's one big horse!
Approximately 10 hours exposure time over multiple nights and roughly the same amount of processing time went into this image.
-Noel