M78 "Casper The Friendly Ghost Nebula"
This is an image of the Messier 78 complex M78 in Orion. It is a difficult object from my location due to the strong light pollution here unfortunately but I decided to try.
This is also known as the "Casper The Friendly Ghost Nebula" although I'm not entirely sure where this comes from!
Certainly the two Nebula, M78 at right and NGC 2071 left, look like two ghostly eyes peering out from the darkness but I wouldn't say they looked friendly, more sinister I would say lol!!
However, M78 was discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain who passed on its location to Charles Messier who catalogued it as M78.
M78 is a reflection nebula, showing the typical sky blue colour and the brightest in this complex. We only see these structures because of the associated stars illuminating the clouds of dust by reflecting their light. The whole complex is surrounded by dark, thick dust and gas adding a sense of mystery. The dust has a slight reddish hue.
The complex consists of M78, the brightest at left. Above it are NGC 2067 (l) and NGC 2064(r). The bright nebula to the left of M78 forming the other eye is NGC 2071.
Image with a Skywatcher Esprit 120ED scope and a ZWO 2600MC camera.
A total of 3hr exposure calibrated with temp. matched darks, flats and dark flats.
Thanks for looking!
M78 "Casper The Friendly Ghost Nebula"
This is an image of the Messier 78 complex M78 in Orion. It is a difficult object from my location due to the strong light pollution here unfortunately but I decided to try.
This is also known as the "Casper The Friendly Ghost Nebula" although I'm not entirely sure where this comes from!
Certainly the two Nebula, M78 at right and NGC 2071 left, look like two ghostly eyes peering out from the darkness but I wouldn't say they looked friendly, more sinister I would say lol!!
However, M78 was discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain who passed on its location to Charles Messier who catalogued it as M78.
M78 is a reflection nebula, showing the typical sky blue colour and the brightest in this complex. We only see these structures because of the associated stars illuminating the clouds of dust by reflecting their light. The whole complex is surrounded by dark, thick dust and gas adding a sense of mystery. The dust has a slight reddish hue.
The complex consists of M78, the brightest at left. Above it are NGC 2067 (l) and NGC 2064(r). The bright nebula to the left of M78 forming the other eye is NGC 2071.
Image with a Skywatcher Esprit 120ED scope and a ZWO 2600MC camera.
A total of 3hr exposure calibrated with temp. matched darks, flats and dark flats.
Thanks for looking!