Reflection Nebula M78 (NOIRLab 'Fan Version') | Kitt Peak National Observatory

Reflection Nebula M78 (NOIRLab 'Fan Version') | Kitt Peak National Observatory

M78 is part of the Orion complex, a large region of star-forming gas and dust centered around M42 and M43. It is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in the sky, and fairly easy to see with binoculars (and almost visible to the naked eye, claim some observers). M78 is some 1,600 light-years away and around 4 light-years across.

This picture is a color composite mosaic of CCD images from the 0.9-meter telescope of the Kitt Peak National Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona, taken in November 1998. 

M78 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects that same year.

Credit: NOIRLab/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Release Date: June 30, 2020

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