Measuring 0.8 light-years across, this enormous horse-head nebula is located about 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Orion. This image, captured by the NASA Webb Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), reveals in detail a region of interest to astronomers.

The Horsehead Nebula formed from a region of collapsing interstellar matter illuminated by a nearby hot star. This huge cloud of gas and dust, along with the surrounding gas clouds, is expected to dissipate over the next five million years. In the meantime, astronomers have an important opportunity to study the interactions between radiation from stars and interstellar matter in this region.

The image clearly shows a dome surrounded by bluish-grey cloud clusters. In the upper part, striped and translucent red spots extend upwards, covering most of the image. In the upper half of the image, a bright white star stands out against the black background of space. Other stars and galaxies are scattered throughout the image, but only a few can be seen through the thick clouds below.

This spectacular image is an example of the most advanced technology available to mankind for studying events and structures deep in the universe.