  Recent studies of dust in the interstellar medium have challenged the
capabilities and validity of current dust models, indicating that the
properties of dust evolve as it transits between different phases of the
interstellar medium. We conduct a multi-wavelength study of the dust emission
from the ionized gas of the IC 434 emission nebula, and combine this with
modeling, from large scales that provide insight into the history of the IC
434/L1630 region, to small scales that allow us to infer quantitative
properties of the dust content inside the H II region. The dust enters the H II
region through momentum transfer with a champagne flow of ionized gas, set up
by a chance encounter between the L1630 molecular cloud and the star cluster of
$\sigma$ Ori. We observe two clearly separated dust populations inside the
ionized gas, that show different observational properties, as well as
contrasting optical properties. Population A is colder ($\sim$ 25 K) than
predicted by widely-used dust models, its temperature is insensitive to an
increase of the impinging radiation field, is momentum-coupled to the gas, and
efficiently absorbs radiation pressure to form a dust wave at 1.0 pc ahead of
$\sigma$ Ori AB. Population B is characterized by a constant [20/30] flux ratio
throughout the HII region, heats up to $\sim$ 75 K close to the star, and is
less efficient in absorbing radiation pressure, forming a dust wave at 0.1 pc
from the star. We conclude that the dust inside IC 434 is bimodal. The
characteristics of population A are remarkable and can not be explained by
current dust models. Population B are grains that match the classical
description of spherical, compact dust. Our results confirm recent work that
stress the importance of variations in the dust properties between different
regions of the interstellar medium.
