Can u see a horse’s head bathed in rich red hydrogen gas emissions? The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 or IC 434) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1,375 light-years from Earth and it is one of the most identifiable nebulae because of its resemblance to a horse's head. It is located in the constellation of Orion, which is prominent in the winter evening sky in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer evening sky in the Southern Hemisphere.