Horsehead nebula. True-colour optical image of the Horsehead nebula in the constellation Orion. North is to the left. The horsehead shape is formed by the intrusion of the dark nebula B33 into the bright emission nebula IC 434. The emission nebula shines pink due to the ionisation of its hydrogen gas by radiation from hot young stars embedded in it. This image was produced by digitally combining photographs taken by the UK Schmidt Telescope in blue and red light.