APOD: The Horsehead Nebula from Blue to... (2014 Jul 28)

[APOD Robot]

The Horsehead Nebula from Blue to Infrared

Explanation: One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The above image is a digital combination of images taken in blue, green, red, and hydrogen-alpha light from the Argentina, and an image taken in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

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[another guest]

The above image is a digital combination of images taken in blue, green, red, and hydrogen-alpha light from the Argentina,

Taken from the what in Argentina? Or should it just be 'from Argentina'?

TIA

[starsurfer]

Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula.

I find this sentence amusing.

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]The Argentine Coat of Arms[/color][/b]

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The above image is a digital combination of images taken in blue, green, red, and hydrogen-alpha light from the Argentina,

Taken from the what in Argentina?

• Someone's head?

The Argentine coat of arms is a figure, in which at the top we find the gold-yellowed Sun of May, also found on the flag of Argentina. The rising sun symbolizes the rising of Argentina.

In the center ellipse there are two shaking hands, connoting the unity of the provinces of Argentina. The hands come together to hold a pike, which represents power and willingness to defend freedom, epitomized by the Phrygian cap on the top of the spear.

The Phrygian cap was typically worn by the inhabitants of Phrygia, in the Anatolian peninsula, and is commonly mistaken for being a Pileus. The Pileus was a hat that in ancient Rome became a symbol of freed slaves, who were touched by their owners with a wooden pike before setting them free.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

I'd make a pun about a horse in the" Barnyard" but that would just be filly. Naaaayyy…

Great image composite. Feels very up close and warm. I like the contrast between today's APOD and the "image" link. The APOD from April 22 2013 seems to offer more detail and is "cool" in its own way .

[Boomer12k]

The last sentence does not make since, and the link goes to an article on Argentina....I ASSUME, they mean a TELESCOPE IN ARGENTINA, and not Argentina itself...and "THE Argentina"...makes no sense....a typo....more proofreading, would catch stuff like this. But that is OK...

WHAT A WONDERFUL IMAGE, and COMPOSITE...the detail is just awesome....and to see stars in their formative years in a nebula.

WHERE does this Magnetic field come from that is "funneling" the out going gases?????

:---{===] *

[Chris Peterson]

The last sentence does not make since, and the link goes to an article on Argentina....I ASSUME, they mean a TELESCOPE IN ARGENTINA, and not Argentina itself...and "THE Argentina"...makes no sense....a typo....more proofreading, would catch stuff like this.

In many languages from which English drew words and grammar, country and state names routinely require the definite article. This heritage shows up in English in many examples: THE Netherlands, THE United States, THE Punjab, THE Ukraine. And that includes what has been traditionally called THE Argentine, sometimes THE Argentina.

I don't know if the intent in this caption was deliberate or accidental, but the usage is actually fine, if a bit dated.

[FlyingGeckos]

What is the comet shaped figure above the head at about the 11 o'clock position?

[geckzilla]

What is the comet shaped figure above the head at about the 11 o'clock position?

It's an edge-on galaxy with another galaxy line-of-sight touching it, I think.

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