Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula

2024-02-27

NamesHorsehead Nebula, Barnard 33
Size6' x 4'
Ra05h 42m18.3s
Dec-02°26'47.6"

The Horsehead Nebula is a small dark nebula located about 1,375 light-years (422 pc) from Earth in the constellation of Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion molecular cloud complex. It appears within the southern region of the dense dust cloud known as Lynds 1630, along the edge of the much larger, active star-forming H II region called IC 434. It is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of its resemblance to a horse's head.1

NamesFlame Nebula, NGC 2024, Sh2-277
Magnitude1.59
Size30' x 30'
Ra05h 43m02.7s
Dec-01°49'49.3"

The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula in the constellation Orion. It is about 1350 light-years away. At that distance, the Flame Nebula lies within the Orion B cloud of the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.2

Horsehead and Flame nebulae

Photo Details

TelescopeSeestar S-50
Dates
Integration time

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia - Horsehead Nebula
  2. Wikipedia - Flame Nebula