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Halloween Astrophoto: The Witch Head Nebula
The Witch Head Nebula, taken on October 24, 2013. Credit and copyright: ftherrmann2012 on Flickr.
Boo! Here’s a great shot of the Witch Head nebula, so named because it resembles the profile of a wicked witch. This nebula’s ‘official’ name is IC 2118, and it is just a cloud of interstellar gas and dust — nothing to be afraid of! The eerie shape is sculpted in part by radiation from the supergiant star Rigel, the brightest star of Orion. In fact, Rigel illuminates the nebula by reflecting off the dust grains, making it glow. Inside the nebula, young stars are being born. You can see an infrared image of this same nebula taken by the WISE spacecraft.
Happy Halloween from all of us here at Universe Today!
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Read the rest of Halloween Astrophoto: The Witch Head Nebula (75 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/105957/halloween-astrophoto-the-witch-head-nebula/
