SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Jon Greif
Location of Photo:
Alpine, CA, USA
Date/Time of photo:
Feb 20 and 21, 2025, between 7 and 10 pm PST
Equipment:
TS-Optics 8" f/4 ONTC Newtonian Telescope, 10Micron GM1000HPS Mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, ZWO LRGB filters, MoonLite focuser, NINA acquisition software and Pixinsight processing software.
Description:
IC 2118/NGC 1909 (also known as the Witch Head Nebula due to its shape -- hint: she's looking to the right) is an extremely faint reflection nebula believed to be an ancient supernova gas cloud illuminated by the supergiant star Rigel in the constellation Orion. The nebula lies about 900 light-years from Earth. The nature of the dust particles, reflecting blue light better than red, gives the Witch Head its bluish color. We had 2 very clear nights last week, and this image is the result of 6 hours exposure time over those two nights.
