Starship Asterisk*

APOD: 2008 Nov 26 - The Horsehead Nebula in Orion
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081126.html

A popular subject on APOD. Here's many views of the photogenic equine.
http://apod.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?Horsehead

Several discussions in the Asterisk, too.
Horsehead history, fusion, orientation, repeat (06 Apr 2008)
APOD horseheads (APOD 21 Feb 2008)
The Horsehead Nebula (APOD 27 May 2007)
Environs of Horsehead Nebula (APOD 21 Feb 2006)

Hey, Ed, relative of yours?

In great respect for Ed; I kind of thought he may have started a post on the subject since he sometimes calls himself Mr. Ed!    But maybe the Horse's Head doesn't talk. After all; Mr Ed is a talking horse. 

Orin

orin stepanek wrote:In great respect for Ed;
I kind of thought he may have started a post on the subject since he sometimes calls himself Mr. Ed! 
But maybe the Horse's Head doesn't talk. After all; Mr Ed is a talking horse. 

Orin : Look under the surface to find the answers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g88asCqfSgg

orin stepanek wrote:But maybe the Horse's Head doesn't talk.

neufer wrote:Orin : Look under the surface to find the answers.

And now we know why the horse's head doesn't talk!

neufer wrote:

orin stepanek wrote:In great respect for Ed;
I kind of thought he may have started a post on the subject since he sometimes calls himself Mr. Ed! 
But maybe the Horse's Head doesn't talk. After all; Mr Ed is a talking horse. 

Orin : Look under the surface to find the answers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g88asCqfSgg

Art; You must see a lot of movies! I did go to that one also. The Godfather was a flick that was very well done. I prefer movies of a gentler nature though. Like Black Beauty or the Horse Whisperer. They were a little easier to digest. However most of the movies I see today are reruns on the tube.

Orin

orin stepanek wrote:

neufer wrote:

orin stepanek wrote:In great respect for Ed;
I kind of thought he may have started a post on the subject since he sometimes calls himself Mr. Ed! 
But maybe the Horse's Head doesn't talk. After all; Mr Ed is a talking horse. 

Orin : Look under the surface to find the answers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g88asCqfSgg

Art; You must see a lot of movies! I did go to that one also. The Godfather was a flick that was very well done.

I prefer movies of a gentler nature though. Like Black Beauty or the Horse Whisperer.
They were a little easier to digest. However most of the movies I see today are reruns on the tube.

Orin

My scientific associate Luca Brasi is a friend of Ed and
so was simply making ORIoN and offer he can't refuse.

Art; I hope you weren't planning on sending me a horses head. I do consider Ed a friend. He stood up for me a couple of times. 8)

Orin

Or, as I've long seen it, the Horse's Ass Nebula.

Chris, did you draw that horse yourself? Maybe you missed your calling after all.

apodman wrote:Chris, did you draw that horse yourself? Maybe you missed your calling after all.

I'm afraid I did. I think I'll stick with physics, though <g>.

In fact, I saw a similar drawing many years ago, and it's changed my outlook on this object ever since. I wish I knew who to credit for the original inspiration.

Chris Peterson wrote:Or, as I've long seen it, the Horse's Ass Nebula.

Well, that would explain the orange dropping underneath:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081126.html

Is the star under the tail where SlARTibARTfast lives?
-----------------------------------
<<In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the planet Magrathea [Mega-urethra?] is located in the Horsehead Nebula. The surface is described as "Blighted". The book says that, "Bits of it were dullish grey, bits if it dullish brown, the rest of it rather less interesting to look at. It was like a dried-out marsh, now barren of all vegetation and covered with a layer of dust about an inch thick.">>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magrathea#Magrathea
-----------------------------------

Horse's head or otherwise, in the "end" I hope you enjoyed the image. After that little art Chris, I am not certain I can image this for a while. <g>
-Adam Block

We are always honored to hear from an APOD's originator.

Chris Peterson wrote:Or, as I've long seen it, the Horse's Ass Nebula.

Oh. That's ruined it for me now! Thanks for that Chris.

Hello Chris,

Not bad but hope you don't have ideas for the Little Dumbell or the Witches Broom! IOW this is not being posted as encouragement. Sorry....

Brings to mind an interesting quandary... In my experience, about 1 in 10 people don't see the horse's head in the Horsehead Nebula. It's one of those things I can't get my mind around, because it jumps right out at me.

Chris has pointed out he sees it differently. Anyone else here either not see the horse or see it differently?

This might just be an insight into the human mind.

-Noel

NoelC wrote:Anyone else here ... see it differently?

Keeping in mind that I was swayed to unknown degree by the accompanying title ("Horsehead"), my first impression of the shape of the nebula was "Seahorse" - so "Horsehead" was not a big stretch. It was years later that I learned the picture was sideways compared with the north-south orientation of nearby Orion. If my initial impression of the nebula had been with no title and the "nose" pointing upward, who knows what I would have seen - probably the same thing.

Yes, I've felt the similarity to sea horses myself. Perhaps when it was first named people had more familiarity with land horses.

-Noel

NoelC wrote:Yes, I've felt the similarity to sea horses myself. Perhaps when it was first named people had more familiarity with land horses.

Before my viewpoint was corrupted by the suggestion that the horse is best seen from the rear, I also saw it either as a seahorse, or as a knight chess piece, which is usually a horse.

First, let me apologize for my late reading of this thread... (I didn't read it until after posting Spaceman... funny how we get on common threads in different threads... it's like we are tied together with string)

Butt since I discovered myself as part of the subject in this discussion I feel compelled to reply... I almost wish I hadn't read this thread because my impression of the nebula is also changed forever thanks to Chris's drawing... I was seeing it as the seahorse and/or chess piece too. However, in my observation relative to Chris's drawing...

Chris, I suggest moving the tail up and to the side a bit more... a bit higher would be more anatomically correct... maybe a sweeping out to the right in order to allow the strategically located dust cloud to depict what it now looks like to me... equidae flatulence. Say, maybe that stuff helps kick start star formation???

______
MrEd(2)

It might even look more convincing if imaged to enhance Methane gas in the cloud
(keep the Tail where it was drawn and it resembles the back side of a Moose right down to the right hind leg being slightly bent.)

Moose?
Now I'm seein' an alligator...