The Witch Head Nebula Illuminated by Rigel

The Witch Head Nebula (IC 2118) is a faint and expansive reflection nebula located approximately 900 light-years away, in the direction of the constellations Eridanus and Orion. Its ghostly shape, resembling the profile of a witch’s face, is illuminated by the brilliant blue-white star Rigel – known in Arabic as "Rijl al-Jabbar" (رِجل الجبار) – one of the brightest stars in the constellation Orion the Hunter. Rigel’s intense light reflects off the fine interstellar dust in the nebula, causing its characteristic blue glow.

The nebula spans an apparent size of approximately 3 to 5 degrees, which is about six to ten times the apparent size of the full Moon in the sky. IC 2118 is composed primarily of cosmic dust and gas, forming part of a larger interstellar cloud complex associated with star-forming regions near Orion.

While the Witch Head Nebula is the main subject of this image, the field also captures several distant background galaxies—silent witnesses to the vast scale of the universe. Among them are:

* NGC 1784 – a barred spiral galaxy located approximately 200 million light-years away, with a magnitude around 11.7.
* NGC 1752 – a distant galaxy with a visual magnitude of about 14.
* NGC 1726 – faint spiral system located over 160 million light-years away.

These galaxies appear as tiny, elongated smudges of light—reminding us that, in a single frame, we are witnessing objects at vastly different distances: from a nebula within our own Milky Way to galaxies hundreds of millions of light-years away.

The Witch Head Nebula is a rare and visually striking example of a reflection nebula. Unlike emission nebulae that glow due to ionized gas, IC 2118 shines from scattered starlight, making its presence a beautiful interplay of light and dust in the interstellar medium.

Telescope/Lens: Samyang 135mm f/1.8
Mount: iOptron HAE43
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro (cooled)
Filter: UV / IR Cut Filter
Guiding Scope: Svbony Mini Guider Scope 30mm/120mm F4
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM

Exposure: 40images x 300 sec (Total: 3h 20min) Camera

Post-processing: PixInsight & Photoshop