At first glance, it looks like the famous Horsehead Nebula in the constellation of the Hunter, but it's not. What we see in this image is a faint nebula revealed by deep space photography. It's a reflection nebula called IC 4592, and it's located in the sky in the direction of the constellation Scorpius.

Reflection nebulae are usually made of very fine dust. They don't emit light on their own, but they can glow, especially in blue tones, because they reflect the light of bright stars in the neighborhood. In this nebula, the light from the glowing part comes from a star that looks like a “horse's eye”. This star is part of a bright star system called Nu Scorpii.

On the right side of the image is another reflection nebula called IC 4601. It looks like a blue-gray glow surrounding two stars. The sky is full of these details; the more you look, the more you want to discover more!

July 5, 2021 Astronomy Photo of the Day (NASA APOD)

 

Image Source and Copyright: Adam Block, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona

Does it look like a horse's head to you? I don't...