Horsehead Nebula

A dark nebula in Orion about 1400 light-years away, silhouetted against the glowing emission nebula IC 434. The horse-head shape is a cold pillar of dust and gas sculpted by radiation from nearby hot stars, part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. Catalogued as Barnard 33, and a famous target despite being notoriously hard to see visually.