SPOOKY SPACE PHENOMENA
Orion’s witch
This wispy outline, with its hooked nose and curved chin, bears a striking resemblance to the profile of a traditional fairy-tale villain. It is known as the Witch Head Nebula.
The Witch Head Nebula – officially IC 2118 – is a reflection nebula, so it does not produce any light of its own. It is found in the constellation of Orion, west of the blue supergiant star Rigel. Rigel is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, between 40,000 and 100,000 times more luminous than the Sun.
Even though it lies over 40 light years from the nebula, the blue light that Rigel pours out into space illuminates the spooky silhouette of the Witch Head Nebula. It doesn’t
