What are the characteristics of the Horsehead Nebula?

In the south of the three stars in the hunter's belt, there is a group of faint stars lined up. This is the hunter's dagger. The famous Orion Bird Nebula (M42) is in the center of the sword, just like setting a bright gem on a dagger. M42 is visible to the naked eye, like a fuzzy light spot. If you use a small telescope, you can see four bright stars in the M42 nebula and the surrounding clouds.

After a few minutes of exposure, it looks like a firebird flying in the sky. Because it is very bright (brightness is about three stars) and its field of vision is about one degree (larger than the full moon), it has its elegant demeanour under any caliber telescope, so it has become the target of many astrophotography researchers. Although M42 can be seen with naked eyes on a clear night, it was not until 16 1 1 that Nicholas perris first noticed this glowing nebula.

It was not until 1656 Christian Huyghens drew it and made it public that people began to notice M42 near Orion 0. The Orion Bird Nebula belongs to the luminous nebula in the Milky Way, which is about 1500 light-years away from the Earth. The entire nebula is about 30 light-years in diameter and consists of gas and dust, because the hot stars in it emit strong ultraviolet light.

It is impossible to see a dark, unlit nebula in the night sky, but if there are bright objects behind the dark nebula, the silhouette effect will enable us to see the dark nebula in front. The Horsehead Nebula next to Hunter's belt S is one such example. It is shaped like a horsehead because IC434 behind it scatters the light of the nebula.

Although the eyes can't see the Horsehead Nebula directly, the image after a long exposure is really as the name suggests, as if it were a fine horse in the cloud.

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