Space Photo Of The Day: Horse Head Nebula

Space photo of the day today is the Horse Head Nebula, so called because it vaguely resembles an abstract impression of a chessboard's bishop.

The magnificent dark swirl set against a pink background is of course not how the Horse Head appears to the naked eye. This beautiful shot is a composite of three exposures, each a represented by different colours, red, green and blue, bringing us this pretty result.

The Horse Head Nebula is in the Orion constellation, approximately 1500 light years from earth.

Photo credit: ESO

See more space photos of the day in our space section.