BIA - Banco de Imágenes Astronómicas

The Horsehead nebula, located about 1,500 light years away from Earth, is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust, silhouetted against a bright nebula, IC 434. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula?s base are young stars just in the process of forming.