IC 434 is a **bright emission nebula** in the constellation Orion, about 1,500 light years away from Earth¹². It was discovered by **William Herschel** on February 1, 1786².
IC 434 is part of the Orion molecular cloud complex, a large region of star formation and interstellar gas and dust¹. IC 434 is ionized by the radiation from the hot star Sigma Orionis, which lies above it¹².
IC 434 is famous for being the background of the **Horsehead Nebula**, a dark nebula that appears as a silhouette of a horse's head against the bright emission nebula¹²³. The Horsehead Nebula is also known as Barnard 33 or NGC 2024¹³.
IC 434 has an apparent magnitude of **7.3** and can be seen with a medium-sized telescope². It appears as a long strip of reddish light near the bright star Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt¹². It is best seen from the northern hemisphere during winter months².
Kilde: Samtale med Bing, 18.6.2023
(1) Horsehead Nebula - Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehead_Nebula.
(2) IC 434 - Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_434.
(3) IC 434 - Wikipedia.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_434.
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