Messier 78

Messier 78, and it's companion, NGC 2071, are located near Orion's belt and are considered part of the larger Orion Nebula complex.  M78 is the only principal reflection nebula in the Messier list.  The pair of stars in the nebula aren't powerful enough to ionize the gas in the cloud, so what we are seeing is simply reflected light on the dust particles in the nebula.  The cloud is blue because the stars in the center are young and blue.


Photo Details
January 30, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Coma Corrector & Orion Skyglow Filter
40 sub frames at 1.5 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop