Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> Horsehead Nebula, Flame Nebula and the Orion Belt

Horsehead Nebula, Flame Nebula and the Orion Belt

author: D.De Martin/Novapix

reference: a-nec04-26002

Image Size 300 DPI: 50 * 40 cm

The north is at top. Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, are the bright bluish stars from east to west (left to right) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie about 1,500 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have intriguing and some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the lower left. This image is based on data acquired by the Oschin Telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory.

Keywords for this photo:

ALNILAM - ALNITAK - ASTRONOMY - B33 - BARNARD 33 - BLUE SUPERGIANT - DARK NEBULA - DSS - EMISSION NEBULA - HORSEHEAD - IC 426 - IC 434 - IC 435 - MINTAKA - MOUNT PALOMAR - NEBULA - NGC 2023 - NGC 2024 - ORION - PALOMAR - POSTER - REFLECTION NEBULA - STAR - SUPERGIANT - YOUNG STAR - ZETA ORIONIS -