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Credit & Copyright: Jeff
Signorelli
Explanation:
Double,
double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble .... maybe Macbeth
should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula.
A suggestively shaped
reflection nebula, this
cosmic crone is about 800 light-years away though.
Its frightening visage seems to glare toward
nearby bright star Rigel in Orion,
just off the right edge of this frame.
More formally known as
IC 2118,
the interstellar cloud of dust and gas is nearly 70 light-years across,
its dust grains reflecting Rigel's starlight.
In this
composite portrait, the nebula's color
is caused not only by the star's intense bluish light but because the
dust grains
scatter blue light more efficiently than red.
The same physical process causes
Earth's daytime sky to appear blue,
although the scatterers in
planet Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen.
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& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: IC 2118 - Witch Head Nebula
Publications with words: IC 2118 - Witch Head Nebula
See also: