This nebula is part of a large family in Orion that was discovered in the late 1880's. It's fairly obvious why it has this name, with a majestic horse's head rising out of it. Here the dark regions are actually very dense clouds that are blocking the light of the surrounding stars. This is another stellar nursery, although younger than the Eagle nebula. It is possible in very close images to see a few little stars peering out in the clouds surrounding the horses head, these are the new stars. At around 10 light years across it is of a size comparable to the other objects in this list but is part of a much grander network in the Orion constellation which includes the next item...
2. The Orion Nebula
You may well look at this image and believe it is Photoshopped, being there is a beautiful grace to the smooth clouds tumbling around in this nebula. While it has been created through the compositional techniques of many photos and some slight false colouring to enhance the detail, this really is a beautifully cloudy nebula. The pink comes from cool hydrogen in the gas cloud which gives it a beautiful hue. It is the closest cloud to us that is forming brand new stars and can even be seen (as a smudge) to the naked eye. If you look south to Orion and find his belt, hanging from it and pointing south is Orion's Sword. In the middle of this there is a smudge which is the bright cloud you see in the image above.
I'm currently obtaining my doctorate in Astrophysics making me a huge nerd. I'm a fan of movies, books and games as well as having a big soft spot for music, particularly soundtracks. If it's an hour long discussion about which Final Fantasy game was the best, I'm your best bet.
