M78 — Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula
Reflection Nebula in Orion
About
NGC 2068, a reflection nebula in Orion about 1,350 light-years away, lit by two B-type stars. It sits with NGC 2064, NGC 2067 and NGC 2071 in the Orion B cloud complex, and about 45 T Tauri stars (very young stars) are known in it.
Imaging tips
- About 8′ by 6′, so 3,030–5,050 mm on APS-C; it is too small for full frame to fill. One write-up calls 650 mm just right and advises at least 500 mm.
- A reflection nebula needs broadband: one mono LRGB image used 22 two-minute subs per filter, about 3 hours in total.
- The same author saw only smudges early on; the dust structure appeared after roughly 2–3 hours, and a Bortle 6 backyard was not dark enough for detail.
- NGC 2071 and the other group members lie nearby. Best in December; it stays below 40° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 8′ × 6′
- Magnitude
- 8.3
- Coordinates
- RA 5h 46.7m, Dec +0° 5′
- Framing, APS-C
- 3030–5050 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Dec
- Peak altitude
- 40° from 50°N, 55° from 35°N