APOD: The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared... (2022 Sep 21)

[APOD Robot]

The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble

Explanation: While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42). A potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personally with a small telescope, the featured gorgeously detailed image was taken in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by high energy starlight.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[FLPhotoCatcher]

Did someone photoshop out a couple of UFOs on the left?

[Joe45]

When did Hubble start operating in the infrared ?

[heehaw]

After seeing bazillion photos of Horsehead ... this is the best ever!

[MightyOg]

...and suddenly I see the Martian from George Pal's 'War of the Worlds.'

[orin stepanek]

Orion2010Labeled_andreo600h.jpg

A nice annotated view of the Orion Constellation!

HorseheadIr_HubbleNachman_960.jpg

I thought this photo showed up before! Still worth a look!

istockphoto-686918844-612x612.jpg

Who needs a paper shredder when you have a dog!

[orin stepanek]

Oh yeah; Happy 23rd Hubble Space Telescope! Thanks for all the Space views!

[bystander]

When did Hubble start operating in the infrared ?

Hubble can see from 0.1 to 2.5 microns, so it operates from ultraviolet to near infrared.

[Chris Peterson]

When did Hubble start operating in the infrared ?

Near-IR extends out to around 2 micrometers, where we're still seeing what we might think of as ordinary light. Uncooled silicon sensors such as those on the HST can be used to that wavelength (and the HST has filters out that far). Longer than that and we're either seeing thermal emissions or highly redshifted light. For that you need cooled sensors made of more exotic materials. That's what we're now seeing from the JWST.

At the near-IR wavelengths Hubble can detect, we're mostly seeing IR used to cut through dust that is opaque at shorter wavelengths.

[De58te]

Orin Stepanek wrote, "I thought this photo showed up before."

Yup, searching APOD for Horsehead In Infrared Hubble, I found 3 entries before, on Apr 12 2020, June 8 2016, and April 22 2013. I stopped scrolling at that point. But today's version seems to be processed more longer. The reds are more brighter, and the blues are also more brighter.

[MarkBour]

When did Hubble start operating in the infrared ?

Near-IR extends out to around 2 micrometers, where we're still seeing what we might think of as ordinary light. Uncooled silicon sensors such as those on the HST can be used to that wavelength (and the HST has filters out that far). Longer than that and we're either seeing thermal emissions or highly redshifted light. For that you need cooled sensors made of more exotic materials. That's what we're now seeing from the JWST.

At the near-IR wavelengths Hubble can detect, we're mostly seeing IR used to cut through dust that is opaque at shorter wavelengths.

Interesting! Before you said this, I assumed that the JWST had very cold sensors thanks to its sunshield and space environment. But I now see on Wikipedia that for the MIRI cam, they had to make the sensors even cooler and developed a super-cool (pun intended) cryocooler for it. So, at about 30-40 Kelvin, they have a refrigerator that takes it down to 7 Kelvin. Radical.

[Sa Ji Tario]

In no similar image did so many galaxies appear as in this one, is it that they are inserted to decorate? but that's how they confuse. This is the second time I see it and it draws no attention

[Sa Ji Tario]

In the images of the dates mentioned by De58te you can see 5 or 6 galaxies (because it is repeated), but this one is saturated, where in the others there are stars, in this one there are galaxies

[johnnydeep]

Did someone photoshop out a couple of UFOs on the left?

Nicely spotted. "Artifacts" no doubt.

[johnnydeep]

In the images of the dates mentioned by De58te you can see 5 or 6 galaxies (because it is repeated), but this one is saturated, where in the others there are stars, in this one there are galaxies

The link to the flickr page for the image links in turn to two Hubble .fits files which I found here: https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/heritage/horsehead/

I don't know how to view .fits format file (though NASA has a downloadable viewer here - https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/soft ... nload.html - haven't tried it yet), and there are interactive versions at the link that also don't show anything in my browser. But the preview shows all the galaxies. The pictures were stacked over multiple days of viewing.

[What horsehead?]

Infrared is pitiless. Gone, the beloved horsehead. Now it's more like... ... the Jar Jar Binks nebula!

[Uncle Jeff]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

If Hubble can tease us with a best-ever IR pic of this nebula, then surely James Webb can follow up shortly with its own best.

BTW, Why did it take so many years for Hubble to cough this up? Could it be a race against the Webb?

[Chris Peterson]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

Not really. The two instruments have about the same resolution, and are designed for very different things. You're comparing apples and oranges.

BTW, Why did it take so many years for Hubble to cough this up? Could it be a race against the Webb?

This target was imaged ten years ago. This image was processed from that old data.

[bystander]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

If Hubble can tease us with a best-ever IR pic of this nebula, then surely James Webb can follow up shortly with its own best.

BTW, Why did it take so many years for Hubble to cough this up? Could it be a race against the Webb?

The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble (APOD: 2013 Apr 22)

---

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STSci/AURA)

---

The infrared image of Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula) is actually from April of 2013. It was featured on both HubbleSite and ESA Hubble on 2013 Apr 19 and on APOD on 2013 Apr 22. Today's APOD is Alexandra Nachman's processing of that data.

[FLPhotoCatcher]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

If Hubble can tease us with a best-ever IR pic of this nebula, then surely James Webb can follow up shortly with its own best.

BTW, Why did it take so many years for Hubble to cough this up? Could it be a race against the Webb?

The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble (APOD: 2013 Apr 22)

---

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STSci/AURA)

---

The infrared image of Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula) is actually from April of 2013. It was featured on both HubbleSite and ESA Hubble on 2013 Apr 19 and on APOD on 2013 Apr 22. Today's APOD is Alexandra Nachman's processing of that data.

The original image from hubblesite.org is missing a star or some bright-ish object. It's partly visible behind the lower of the two artifacts at far left on today's image. The evidence of the object was apparently just wiped away in the original image.

[FLPhotoCatcher]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

Not really. The two instruments have about the same resolution, and are designed for very different things. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Doesn't the Webb have significantly better resolution at shorter wavelengths, and lower resolution at longer wavelengths?

[Chris Peterson]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

Not really. The two instruments have about the same resolution, and are designed for very different things. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Doesn't the Webb have significantly better resolution at shorter wavelengths, and lower resolution at longer wavelengths?

All telescopes have resolution that scales with both aperture and wavelength.

[orin stepanek]

emc used a pink horse head as his avatar! viewtopic.php?t=15120#p99243

[johnnydeep]

Anything Hubble can do, Webb can do better...

If Hubble can tease us with a best-ever IR pic of this nebula, then surely James Webb can follow up shortly with its own best.

BTW, Why did it take so many years for Hubble to cough this up? Could it be a race against the Webb?

The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble (APOD: 2013 Apr 22)

---

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STSci/AURA)

---

The infrared image of Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula) is actually from April of 2013. It was featured on both HubbleSite and ESA Hubble on 2013 Apr 19 and on APOD on 2013 Apr 22. Today's APOD is Alexandra Nachman's processing of that data.

The original image from hubblesite.org is missing a star or some bright-ish object. It's partly visible behind the lower of the two artifacts at far left on today's image. The evidence of the object was apparently just wiped away in the original image.

This one?

horsehead nebula artifact and hidden star.JPG