Messier 78, Reflection Nebula in Orion, CDK24

Messier 78,  An eerie blue glow and ominous columns of dark dust highlight M78 and other bright reflection nebula in the constellation of Orionn. The dark filamentarydust not only absorbs light, but also reflects the light of several bright blue stars that recently formed in the nebula. Of the two reflection nebulas pictured above, the more famous nebula is Messier 78, in the image center, while NGC 2071 can be seen to its lower left. The same type of scattering that colors the daytime sky further enhances the blue color. Messier 78 is about five light years across and visible through a small telescope. M78 appears only as it was 1600 years ago, however, because that is how long it takes light to go from there to here. Messier 78 belongs to the larger Orion molecular cloud complex that contains the Great Orion Nebula and the Horehead Nebula. The image is in true color with the addition of narrowband Hydrogen filter data shown in red which is its actual color.  The image was taken with a 24″ Planewave telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile.