The Witch Head IC2118

Field centered on R.A. 05h 10' & Dec. -06° 40'

 

 

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" maybe Macbeth should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula. This suggestively shaped reflection nebula is associated with the bright star Rigel in the constellation Orion.
More formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula glows primarily by light reflected from Rigel, located just outside the top right corner of the above image. Fine dust in the nebula reflects the light. The blue color is caused not only by Rigel's blue color but because the dust grains reflect blue light more efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. The nebula lies about 1000 light-years away.

(Text taken from Astronomy Picture of the Day)

 

Instrument:
Film:
Site:
Color composite:
Palomar Observatory's 48-inch (1.2-meter)
Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope 		POSS II Red & Blue
glass plates

Palomar Observatory

Marco Lorenzi

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

All of the photographs and text on these pages are copyrighted by Marco Lorenzi. They may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or World Wide Web, without written permission of the author.