Unveiling the Mysteries of the Horsehead Nebula: NASA’s Stunning Discovery
Nasa has captured the famous Horsehead Nebula in its sharpest detail yet, 136 years after it was first discovered. Images produced by Hubble, and Euclid before it, of the distinctive dust cloud have been succeeded in quality by the $10billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Exploring the Horsehead Nebula with the James Webb Space Telescope
Nasa and partners like the European Space Agency (ESA) have published jaw-dropping images of the Horsehead Nebula captured by Webb some 1300 light-years away. The nebula, like most, was formed from a collapsing interstellar cloud of gas and dust and is illuminated by a nearby hot star.
Unprecedented Spatial Resolution: The Complexity of the Horsehead Nebula Revealed
These observations show a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Astronomers reckon that the Horsehead – also known as Barnard 33 – has about five million years left before it disintegrates and fades into the cosmic background.
The Horsehead Dust Cloud: A Target for Study
The Horsehead dust cloud is a well-known photon-dominated region, also known as a PDR, and is an “ideal target” for study, according to the ESA. Astronomers want to observe these regions to study their physical structures, and how their gas-and-dust-characteristics evolve.
Webb’s Journey: Exploring the Horsehead Nebula
Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). After launching on Christmas Day in 2021, Webb – the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched to space – has snapped images of distant whirlpools and galaxies 200,000 lightyears away.
Studying Radiation Interactions: The Importance of the Horsehead Nebula
“It is considered one of the best objects in the sky to study how radiation interacts with interstellar matter,” the agency says. Find out more about science Want to know more about the weird and wonderful world of science? From the Moon to the human body, we have you covered.