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A Witch by Starlight



By starlight this eerie visage shines in the dark, a crooked profile evoking its popular name, the Witch Head Nebula.

In fact, this entrancing telescopic portrait gives the impression the witch has fixed her gaze on Orion's bright supergiant star Rigel.

Spanning over 50 light-years, the blue color of the Witch Head Nebula and of the dust surrounding Rigel 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.

Cataloged as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula is about 1,000 light-years away.



Credits & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote Observatory (Steve Mazlin, Jack Harvey, Rick Gilbert, Teri Smoot, Daniel Verschatse).