Horsehead Nebula, Kids' Puzzle

Horsehead Nebula

This image of the Horsehead Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope focuses on a portion of the horse’s “mane” that is about 0.8 light-years in width. It was taken with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-infrared Camera). The ethereal clouds that appear blue at the bottom of the image are filled with a variety of materials including hydrogen, methane, and water ice. Red-colored wisps extending above the main nebula represent both atomic and molecular hydrogen. In this area, known as a photodissociation region, ultraviolet light from nearby young, massive stars creates a mostly neutral, warm area of gas and dust between the fully ionized gas above and the nebula below. As with many Webb images, distant galaxies are sprinkled in the background.

Constellation             Orion

Distance                    1,300 light years

Dimensions               Image is about 1.3 arcminutes across

Exposure Dates:       30 January 2023

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Karl Misselt (University of Arizona), Alain Abergel (IAS, CNRS)