M78 Reflection Nebulosity in Orion

Uploaded 3/18/10

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 This carefully placed composition encompasses one of the most deeply mysterious and interesting areas in the sky for reflection nebula. Dominated by two bright sky blue nebula, M78 and NGC2071, the dark dusty areas which block the starlight behind are amazing objects in their own right because of the dim infrared sources embedded inside. A few of these proto suns are peeking through and are cataloged as Herbig - Haro objects labeled here as HH24 - HH26. There are numerous objects in this unique field to point out, so here is the detailed accounts:

M78 - 9 arc minutes in size, and 8.3rd magnitude this is the brightest object in the field A dark lane separates it from NGC2067.

NGC2071 - Delicately structured internal dark nebulosity creates a very detailed object, a 8 arc minute sized nebula illuminated by the star HD290861 a 10th magnitude B5 star.

NGC2067 the "Handsaw Nebula" - Aptly named by Walter Scott Houston last century, this is merely an extension to M78 emerging from behind a dark lane of material.

Herbig Haro Objects - HH24 - 26 are new born stars emerging for the very first time from their birth cocoons. Still cloaked in deep dust, they appear quite red photographically, and in infrared can be shown more clearly.

HD290857 - This very dim red and blue object is surrounding the 10th magnitude star HD290857.

Optics: 8" f/4 Newtonian Astrograph w/Baader MPCC Coma Corrector Platform: Astrophysics AP1200 Camera: Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800 Exposure: 18 x 5m = 90m Location: Payson, Arizona Elevation: 5150 ft. Sky: Seeing 7/10, Transparency 7/10 Outside Temperature: 35F Processing Tools: Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82 HOME GALAXIES EMISSION NEBS REFLECTION NEBS COMETS GLOBULARS OPEN CLUST PLANETARIES LINKS