Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33 (Lee Harris)

Celestial hemisphere: Southern · Constellation: Orion (Ori) · Contains: Horsehead nebula · IC 434 · IC 435 · NGC 2023 · NGC 2024 · The star Alnitak (ζOri)

Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33, Lee Harris

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Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33

Link: http://horfield-astronomy.co.uk/image-gallery

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Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33

Link: http://horfield-astronomy.co.uk/image-gallery

NGC 2024 - also known as the Flame Nebula is a glowing area of gas about 0.5 degrees wide just east of Alnitak (ζ Orionis). It's a bright nebula that despite significant interference from second magnitude Alnitak, shows up surprisingly well in telescopes. Scopes of 150mm (6-inch) or more reveal a circular disk of nebulosity, dissected by a prominent dark band. At high powers, with Alnitak moved out of the field of view, more bands and subtle bright and dark patches are visible. NGC 2024 is a fine emission nebula that would be spectacular if it were not located next to such a bright star. It has an apparent diameter of 30 arc minutes and is about 900 to 1,500 light-years away.

IC 434 and Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula) - Staying in the region surrounding Alnitak, but looking south of the star lies emission nebula IC 434. On a good night with a 150mm (6-inch) scope it appears as a tenuous faint wispy strip of light extending in a north to south direction. Averted vision helps, as does moving Alnitak out of the field of view.

IC 434 covers 60 x 10 arc minutes of apparent sky and normally would be relatively unremarkable except for one major detail, its home to famous dark nebula Barnard 33, otherwise known as the Horsehead Nebula. Positioned 0.5 degrees south of Alnitak, this cloud of dust overlays the emission nebula, cutting out a shape that looks like a horse's head or a black knight from a chess game.

Unfortunately, while the Horsehead Nebula is spectacular when imaged, it's rather difficult to observe visually. The low contrast and small 5 arc minute size contribute to making this a tricky target. Some observers have reported seeing it with 150mm (6-inch) scopes, while others have failed even with 500mm (20-inch) scopes.

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Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33

Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33

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Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33

Flame Nebula - NGC2024 and Horsehead Nebula - Barnard 33

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