From Horsehead and Flame to M78 Nebula

About this Image

This image spans from the famous Horsehead area (IC 434) to the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) ad to the M 78 Nebula area, the brightest diffuse reflection nebula of a group of nebulae that include NGC 2064, NGC 2067 and NGC 2071. All these objects belong to the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex and are about 1600 light-years distant from Earth. A small section of Barnard's loop is visible just at the bottom left corner of this image.