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The Witch Head Nebula

The Witch Head Nebula
The Witch Head Nebula The Witch Head Nebula is an eerie cloud of cosmic dust that strongly resembles a witch in profile. This colorized image was captured by the Lowell Observatory. NASA

Formally identified in astronomy circles by the catalog designation IC 2118, the Witch head is not visible to the unaided eye. It wouldn’t even be visible through a telescope if not for reflected starlight, similar to how the Moon is visible from Earth because of reflected sunlight. Astronomers classify the Witch Head as a reflection nebula—a cloud of interstellar dust that reflects light from one or more nearby stars. We can think of such a thing as a celestial street light illuminating the clouds. In this case, the light comes from Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the seventh brightest in the night sky. The distance from Earth to both Rigel and the Witch Head is about 900 light years.