M78

M78: This is a single 10 minute luminance exposure of a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is relatively small compared to the more famous M42 emission nebula in Orion. When imaged in color, this should appear blue. The blue color is from light emitted by the very young, hot stars being reflected by the surrounding dark gas clouds.

Messier: 78
NGC: 2068
Right Ascension: 5hr 46.7m
Declination: 0° 3'
Apparent Magnitude: 8.3

Date: November 2010
Equipment:
Telescope: Meade 16" Schmidt Cassegrain with f6.3 reducer (used at ~ f6.1)
Camera: SBIG ST-10XE
Guiding: AO-8

Exposure: L: 20x15s, binned 1x1

Processing Notes: Dark subtraction and flat field in CCDSoft. Photoshop post processing included curves, levels and reduce noise.
Scale: 0.52"/pixel on highest resolution

Links to images of this object on other sites:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051104.html

Additional Comments: This is a single, 10 minute subframe. Quick data reduction while the other images were being taken. Some stars obviously need to be fixed. Color should happen when there is another clear night.

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