NASA's Webb telescope captures new photos of Horsehead Nebula

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This image showcases three views of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. /NASA

NASA's Webb Space Telescope has revealed the sharpest images yet of a portion of a horse-shaped nebula, showing the "mane" in finer detail.

The Horsehead Nebula, in the constellation Orion, is 1,300 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

This image of the Horsehead Nebula from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope focuses on a portion of the horse's "mane" that is about 0.8 light-years in width. /NASA

Discovered over a century ago, its nickname derives from its striking appearance – a wispy pillar of gas and dust that resembles a horse rearing its head.

Webb's latest infrared images released Monday captured the top of Horsehead in greater detail, illuminating clouds of chilly hydrogen molecules and soot-like chemicals. These glamour shots can help refine astronomers' understanding of the nebula, which acts as a nursery for big stars to brew.

This image of the Horsehead Nebula from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope focuses on a portion of the horse's "mane." /NASA

Horsehead is a favorite target of space observatories including the Hubble Space Telescope. Last year, the European space telescope Euclid took fresh photos of the nebula.

Source(s): AP