The irresistible charm of the Horsehead Nebula's beauty in a new look

Europe's Euclid Space Telescope, named after the Greek mathematician Euclid, launched on July 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Since then, Euclid has traveled about 1 million kilometers through space, continuing its six-year mission that includes taking high-resolution, wide-field images of the universe and exploring the long-standing mysteries of the cosmos.

In his latest observations, Euclid discovered the Horsehead Nebula, located about 1,375 light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion. It is one of the most recognizable nebulae, due to its resemblance to a horse's head. Scottish astronomer Williamina Fleming first discovered the nebula on February 6, 1888.

The object was formed from a collapsing cloud of interstellar material, glowing dimly thanks to the illumination from a hot star behind it. The nebula's distinctive shape is also due to the intense radiation from a nearby star blowing into the column of interstellar material.

In its new form, the gas clouds surrounding the Horsehead have dissipated, but the protruding columns of interstellar material remain intact, as they are made of durable material that is difficult to erode. According to experts, the Horsehead Nebula has about 5 million years left before it completely disintegrates.

The Euclid Space Telescope has released a spectacular panoramic image of the Horsehead Nebula. (Image: ESA / Euclid)

Euclid experts say that many other telescopes have captured images of the Horsehead Nebula, but none have captured the Horsehead Nebula in such sharp detail with such a wide field of view, in a single observation by Euclid.

“We are particularly interested in this region because star formation is taking place under very special conditions, which are dominated by radiation from the very bright star Sigma Orionis,” said Euclid scientist Dr. Eduardo Martin Guerrero de Escalante.

As Euclid observes this stellar nursery, experts hope to find many Jupiter-mass planets and young brown dwarfs that have never been detected before.

HUYNH DUNG (Source: Sci.news)

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