IC2118 is a faint reflection nebula nicknamed the Witch Head because it resembles a fairytale "wicked witch" with sunken eyes, crooked nose, open mouth, and pointed chin.
The nebula is about 900 light years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus. It is known as a reflection nebula because its dust reflects the blue-white light from Rigel, the super-giant star about 40 light years distant that marks Orion's western foot.
The entire nebula spans about 70 light years, but this view shows only the 40% (28 light years) that resembles a witch.
| Exposure |
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| Processing |
• Calibration, registeraton, and stretching with PixInsight • Final tweaking in Photoshop CS6 |
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| Date and Location |
• November 25, 2019 • Louisa County, Virginia, USA |
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Equipment |
• TMB-130SS APO refractor @ f/7 on an A-P 1200 mount • ZWO ASI-1600MC Pro color camera • Imaging and autoguiding with MaxIm DL 6.20 • Automated image acquisition with ACP Observatory Control |
This region of the winter sky contains several beautiful deep-space objects in addition to the Witch Head Nebula pictured above.
Hover your mouse over a yellow arrow below to see the name of an object. Click on the arrow to see my image of it.
Updated May 23, 2023