April 19, 2013

J D Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j d harrington@nasa gov

Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md 410-338-4514 villard@stsci edu

RELEASE: 13-106

NASA'S HUBBLE SEES A HORSEHEAD OF A DIFFERENT COLOR

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990

Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers It is shadowy in optical light It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light

Hubble has been producing ground-breaking science for two decades During that time, it has benefited from a slew of upgrades from space shuttle missions, including the 2009 addition of a new imaging workhorse, the high-resolution Wide Field Camera 3 that took the new portrait of the Horsehead

The nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud, located about 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Orion The cloud also contains other well-known objects such as the Great Orion Nebula (M42), the Flame Nebula, and Barnard's Loop It is one of the nearest and most easily photographed regions in which massive stars are being formed

In the Hubble image, the backlit wisps along the Horsehead's upper ridge are being illuminated by Sigma Orionis, a young five-star system just out of view Along the nebula's top ridge, two fledgling stars peek out from their now-exposed nurseries

Scientists know a harsh ultraviolet glare from one of these bright stars is slowly evaporating the nebula Gas clouds surrounding the Horsehead already have dissipated, but the tip of the jutting pillar contains a slightly higher density of hydrogen and helium, laced with dust This casts a shadow that protects material behind it from being stripped away by intense stellar radiation evaporating the hydrogen cloud, and a pillar structure forms

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md , manages the telescope The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md , conducts Hubble science operations STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc , in Washington

For images and more information about the Horsehead Nebula, visit:

http://hubblesite org/news/2013/12

http://heritage stsci edu/2013/12

http://www spacetelescope org/news/heic1307/

http://www nasa gov/hubble

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]