The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion.
The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is furthest east on Orion's Belt. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth.
The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis.
The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust.
Imaged with the Boren-Simon 8" F/2.8 POWERNEWT Astrograph.
SBIG ST8300M camera with SBIG Filterwheel with BAADER LRGB filters.
EQ6 PRO mount with PHD guiding.
6x5 min for luminance bin x1
7 min per RGB channel bin X2
Total of 51 minutes.
Imaged from the NEGEV desert in ISRAEL on March 31st 2011