M78 Casper, The Friendly Ghost
| Description |
Messier 78 (also known as M78 or NGC 2068) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in a group that includes NGC 2064, NGC 2067, and NGC 2071, all part of the Orion B molecular cloud complex—located approximately 1,350 light-years from Earth. M78 is visible in small telescopes as a hazy patch illuminated by two B-type stars, HD 38563 A and HD 38563 B, of 10th and 11th magnitude. It is a popular target for amateur astronomers, who have given it the common name Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula. |
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| Data/Processing Attribution |
This is my data and processing. |
| Distances/Size |
Distance to the object: 1,350 light-years. |
| Equipment |
Mount-PlaneWave L-350; Scope-PlaneWave CDK14″, 356 mm aperture, 2563 mm focal length; Camera-Moravian C3-61000, 0.30 arcsec/pixel. |
| Observatory |
The image was captured at the Prairie Skies Astro remote observatory. |
| Exposure |
Total exposure was 43 hours and 40 minutes: L-88X300 7 hours 20 minutes Ha-104X300 8 hours 40 minutes R-107X300 8 hours 55 minutes G-124X300= 10 hours 20 minutes B-101X300= 8 hours 25 minutes
Total—43 hours, 40 minutes Processing is done in PixInsight, Photoshop, and Lightroom Classic |