Hubble’s view of the Horsehead Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula as viewed at near-infrared wavelengths (1.1 microns (blue/cyan) and 1.6 microns (red/orange)) with the Wide Field Camera 3 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The image is approximately 6 arcminutes across and is oriented with north to the left and east down.

This thick pillar of gas and dust is sculpted by powerful stellar winds blowing from clusters of massive stars located beyond the field of this image. The bright source at the top left edge of the nebula is a young star whose radiation is already eroding the surrounding interstellar material.