Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula M78 in Orion 1350 ly away

I posted this just in time for the final hurrah for Halloween.

Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula, M78, in Orion 1350 ly away.

The bright area to the right of center is Casper (look below the dark semi-circle to the right of center, see two eyes and below that arms out to the sides and legs further below, that’s Casper) and the brighter area to the left of center is NGC2071.

This one was fun for a number of reasons. First, M78, Casper, is close to the Orion and Horsehead Nebulae, but is much smaller in size. Second, there are so many objects in the Orion Constellation and it is fun to explore them. Three, until taking longer exposure pics for 10 hours I never realized how much dust and nebulosity is in the area around M78. Four, the dark parts with no stars are the result of dust with no light reflecting off of them that block the view of stars behind them. There is considerable color also. Exploring space is the reason I so enjoy astrophotography!

ASI585MC Pro g200, AskarV@600f7.5, 60 10min pics (10 hours) exposure, +darks/biases/flats
AM5/ASIair+, EAF, Askar OAG with ASI174mini for guiding

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