The Horsehead Nebula is an interstellar cloud (dark nebula) in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt. The nebula was discovered by Scottish astronomer Williamina Fleming in 1888 on a photographic plate taken at the Harvard College Observatory. Most images reveal a red color that originates from ionized hydrogen gas behind the nebula.
Viewing Location – Joshua Tree National Park
- Lat/Lon: 33.74457,-115.81264
- Sky Magnitude: 21.84 magnitudes/square arcseconds
- Sky Luminance: 0.198 mcd/m2
- Bortle Scale: 3 (rural sky). Equal to a Sky Magnitude between 21.89–21.69.
Observation
- Catalog Designation: IC 434
- Celestial Coordinates: RA 5h 40m 59s | Dec -2° 27′ 30″
- Observation Duration: 1 night, 535 x 10sec = 89.2 minutes
- CCD temperature in degrees Celsius: 16
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Annotations provided by Astrometry.net through an automated process of “plate solving”.
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Surrounding Constellation – Orion
Here’s a map showing where my photograph of IC 434 fits in the larger stellar field.
