APOD 2.1 The Horse Head Nebula

http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/ap121021.html

Being one of the easiest to identify nebula, the Horse Head Nebula is located in Orion and is s small portion of a large, black cloud which was first discovered in 180's. It's easy to see that there is a large cloud of Hydrogen behind the nebula because it is appearing in a pinkinsh-red. The dark part of the nebula (the horse part) is easily identified and it then becomes clear why it is called the "Horse Head Nebula". It does look like a horse head to me, but more of just a skull. More of the bone structure of a horse than a horse with flesh on it. There are large jets of gas that shoot out of the sides of the nebula which are powered by a strong megnetic field. There are some light spots in the middle of the nebula which are speculated to be new stars being created. It takes 1,500 years for the light from this nebula to reach us, so it makes me think of what those new stars are doing now.