A guide to what's up in the sky for Southern Australia

Previous Articles

IC434 -The Horsehead Nebula (1st Apr 2025)

Distance: 1500 Light Years |Constellation - Orion

Cosmic dust is an important constituent of matter in the universe and is essential to the star making process. The famous Horsehead Nebula represents a dark cloud of dust and non- luminous gas which obscures and silhouettes the emitted light of IC 434 behind it.

IC 434 has in turn received all its energy from the bright star Sigma Orionis. Protruding from its parental cloud, the horsehead is really a dynamic structure and a fascinating laboratory of complex physics.

As it expands into the surrounding environment, areas of the cloud sustain stresses which trigger the formation of low mass stars. One infant star is visible as a partly shrouded glow in horse's brow. Small reddish objects glowing through the dust represent Herbig-Haro objects, light emission of material ejected from invisible protostars.