Explanation:
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations, the glowing
Orion Nebula and the dark
Horsehead Nebula are contrasting
cosmic vistas.
They appear in opposite corners of this
stunning mosaic taken with a digital camera attached to a small telescope.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right of the picture.
Immediately to its left is a prominent bluish
reflection nebula sometimes called
the Running Man.
The Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and is seen as the
brightest star to the left of the
Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region in
this deep field image of the same region.
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