The Ghoul of IC 2118

Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2020 October 29

Explanation: Inspired by the halloween season,
this telescopic portrait
captures a cosmic cloud with a scary visage. The interstellar scene lies within the dusty expanse of reflection
nebula IC 2118 in the constellation Orion. IC 2118 is about 800 light-years from your neighborhood,
close to
bright bluish star Rigel at the foot of Orion. Often identified as
the Witch Head nebula
for its appearance in a wider field of view it
now rises before the witching hour though. With spiky stars for eyes, the ghoulish apparition identified
here seems to extend an arm toward Orion’s hot supergiant star. The source of illumination for IC 2118,
Rigel is just beyond this frame at the upper left.

Source: apod.nasa.gov