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IC 2118 – Witch Head Nebula

IC 2118, known as the Witch Head Nebula, is an extremely faint reflection nebula located in the constellation Eridanus, on the border with Orion, about 2.6 degrees east of Rigel, the star that illuminates it. It is an extensive cloud of fine interstellar dust grains with an apparent size of 160.0 × 60.0 arcminutes, an apparent magnitude of +10.0, and an approximate distance of 900 light-years.

General information

Constellation
Eridanus
Category
Nebulae
Date
3 January 2022

Capture

Total time
3h 10min
Subframes
300s (light frames: 38x) ISO 1600
Gain / Offset
0 / 0
Calibration
15 dark frames, 100 flat frames, 98 dark-flat frames and 100 bias frames

Equipment

Telescope
TS102 f/7
Camera
modified Nikon D90
Filters
Ha+OIII/Hb
Mount
HEQ-5 Pro belt drive
Guiding
PHD2, Guide scope 60mm/f4 + ASI224MC

Processing and environment

Processing
Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.8
Acquisition
NINA
Location
l'Ampolla
Sky
Bortle 4

Additional versions

Annotated imageAnnotated field version identifying IC 2118 and helping to locate it relative to Rigel.