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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured

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the sharpest infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula,  

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located within the constellation Orion,

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nearly 1,300 light-years away.

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Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument and Near-Infrared Camera

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were pointed towards
the illuminated edge

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of this iconic nebula, capturing the 
region’s complexity

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with unprecedented spatial resolution. 

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As with many Webb images,

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distant galaxies are
sprinkled in the background.

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The ethereal clouds that appear blue at the bottom

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of the image are dominated by cold, molecular hydrogen.

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Red-colored wisps extending
above the main nebula

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represent mainly
atomic hydrogen gas.

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This nebula formed from a collapsing 
interstellar cloud of material,  

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and it glows because it’s
illuminated by a nearby hot star.

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The gas clouds surrounding the Horsehead have already dissipated, 

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and astronomers estimate that the Horsehead itself has about

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five million years before
it also disintegrates.

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As ultraviolet light
evaporates the dust cloud,

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dust particles are swept out away from the cloud,

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carried with the heated gas.

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Webb has detected a network of thin features tracing this movement.

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Using Webb to observe the small-scale structures

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at the nebula’s edge that have

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never been observed
before allows astronomers

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to investigate how the
dust blocks and emits light,

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and to better understand the 
multidimensional shape of the nebula.