| Designation |
IC 2118- The Witch Head Nebula
|
| Type | Reflection Nebula |
| Constellation | Eridanus (The River) |
| Coordinates | Telescope centered at RA '05 06 09' Dec ' - 07 13 07' |
| Magnitude | |
| Size | Approximately 45 x 15 Light Years |
| Distance | 680 light years from Earth |
| Dimensions | 160 x 60 arcminutes |
| Image Field | 131 x 90 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
IC 2118 is a very faint reflection nebula that shines by virtue of the reflected light of the nearby bright star "Rigel" in the constellation Orion, which lies about 2.5 degrees to the west.This cosmic dust cloud appears blue because blue light is more effectively scattered or reflected off the dust than other colors (spectral frequencies). |
| For similar reasons earth's atmosphere (sky) appears blue, although it is primarly the chemical composition of the gases (nitrogen & oxygen) that make up the atmosphere rather than the abundance of fine dust that "reflects" the light. | |
|
|
| Telescope | Takahashi FS60C f/5.9 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L4 |
| Focal Length | 264 mm @ f/4.4 with Takahashi focal reducer |
| Guiding | SXV guidehead through 10" SCT @ f/3.3 |
| Telescope Control | Maxim DL (V4.3) |
| CCD Camera |
Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 - USB 2 ExView progressive
scan
1392 x 1040 (6.45 uM) pixel array (8.98 x 6.71 active area)
|
| Image Scale | 5.23 arcsec/pixel |
| Filters |
1.25" Astronomik Type II Dichroic
IR blocking filters Luminance, Red, Green, Blue in True
Tech filter wheel
|
| Exposures |
H9-Total exposure time (RGB): 150
minutes -unbinned, RGB - Red, Green, Blue - 50, 50,
50 (10 x 5 minutes each)
H16 - Total exposure time (LRGB): 200 minutes
- L (8 x 10), RGB (8 x 5) binned 2x
|
| Calibration | None |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2 |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time | 09/25/06 (H9) 11/17/06 (H16) |
