The faint Witch Head Nebula in Orion,
also known as IC 2118, is composed of
small dust grains reflecting blue light from
the nearby brilliant star Rigel, which is
just beyond the field of this image on the
right. Can you make out the large chin,
round open mouth, and pointed nose of
the wicked witch? Like children lying
back on the grass on a summer day,
astronomers also gaze to the sky,
imagining shapes in ethereal wisps of
dust and gas. Human nature tries to
create order from chaos.
This image combined 75 minutes
luminance exposures using a clear filter
with 30 minutes each of red, green and
blue exposures. An ST10XME camera
was used through a Takahashi Sky
90mm refractor with a reducer at my
new observatory.
Music: Witchey Woman